Department of Health defined family planning as “having the desired number of children and when you want to have them by using safe and effective modern methods.”

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The Philippines has Southeast Asia's highest annual population growth rate, with family sizes and birth rates among the highest in the area (Population Reference Bureau). Family planning should be promoted in the Philippines to raise awareness of its importance and benefits to individuals, as well as to families, communities, and societies. This benefits the family to avoid unintended pregnancies, reduces the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and helps reduce the rates of infertility.

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Avoids Unintended Pregnancies

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Family planning prevents unintended pregnancies by providing women access to services and an expanded variety of contraceptive choices.  Women and their children benefit from family planning by aiding them in avoiding becoming pregnant too early, too late, or too often. Meeting the unmet contraceptive needs would cut the number of abortions worldwide by 64 percent per year. In underdeveloped nations, more than half of all abortions are unsafe, and fewer unsafe abortions would result in fewer maternal deaths and injuries. Family planning can also increase the involvement of couples in making decisions about whether and when to have children. Family planning expands the choices for women to decide for the future of their families and also, improves the social and economic development, education, and maternal and child health.

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Reduces the Spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)

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Through family planning, women and men of all ages can raise their awareness on what behavior and situations can increase their exposure to STDs and on how to protect themselves and others from these diseases.

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Family planning can provide individuals with better and improved contraceptive options that can prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases or STDs. Although contraceptive methods are safe for most people, it still needs a lot of consideration by women, men, or couples at any given point in their lifetimes when choosing the most appropriate contraceptive option they should take. These considerations include safety, effectiveness, availability (including accessibility and affordability), and acceptability.

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Pills remain the most popular contraceptive method among Filipino women 15 to 49 years old with 13.7 percent using this method in 2000. This is according to the 2000 Family Planning Survey (FPS). While in the year 2020, 8,085,000 Filipino utilized modern birth control techniques, marking a 6% increase from 2019, according to the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom). Other than pills and birth control techniques, there are other more and common reversible methods to reduce the spread of STDs. This includes Levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG IUD), implant, injection or “shot”, hormonal vaginal contraceptive ring, diaphragm or cervical cap, male condom, and female condom.

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Helps Reduce the Rates of Infertility

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In most developing countries, the accessibility, availability, and quality of reproductive treatments to address infertility is still a problem. Infertility diagnosis and treatment are rarely supported by public health funding and are generally not emphasized in the national population, development programs, and reproductive health strategies. Furthermore, even in countries that are actively addressing the needs of persons with infertility, a lack of educated professionals, the required equipment and infrastructure, as well as the current high prices of treatment drugs, are serious barriers. With the help of family planning, many inequalities in access to safe and effective fertility treatment might be mitigated by government measures.

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Family planning helps reduce the rates of infertility by incorporating fertility awareness and promoting healthy lifestyles and behaviors, including STI prevention, preventive care and treatment, consequences of unsafe abortion, postpartum sepsis, abdominal/pelvic surgery, and environmental toxins linked to infertility. It also gives access to more effective contraceptive methods that leads to the decreasing of infertility rates for both men and women.

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Conclusion

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The misconception about family planning only focusing on abortion is just a myth. Family planning focuses on the sexual and reproductive health of both men and women of all ages. It aims to educate individuals about the importance of people having a choice, possible actions and behaviors that could prevent getting infected by sexually transmitted diseases, fertility awareness and the reducing of infertility rates, healthy lifestyles, contraceptive methods, maternal and child health, promoting social and economic development, female empowerment, and so much more.