Humanists International Policy Chronology 2: “Family planning”
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Personal SubStack
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/04/01
The congress recognising the world-wide population problem as a common concern of mankind and of continuing importance to humanist and ethical culturists, since without population planning welfare policies are futile and human dignity is disastrously imperilled, urges the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations to consider how best to provide that men and women everywhere shall have essential information on family planning, as their due and as due to the generation to be born.
IHEU congress 1952
‘Family planning’, Humanists International, World Humanist Congress, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1952
Humanists are all about living a rational, considered and emotionally fulfilling life. Some humanists want families while others do want them. When it comes to doing this, the humanist way will in most cases involve some form of planning for a family.
When societies do not have a formulation of how to plan properly for a family, in terms of educational needs, financial necessities, social services, healthcare, and such, children will be more likely to grow up in poverty.
By poverty, I mean the lack of basic and essential services for the other, higher-order aspects of someone’s life coming to fruition. Without those, life somehow loses its zest, meaning, and fulfillment.
So, even though, this is a short policy taken in 1952; it’s crucial when making an alignment with the values of the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations and the necessity for family planning.
I love the end of this one. It sets a stage for considering not only those who are planning on having a family, but on providing a context in which a child will, tacitly, be more wanted and the basics for the this child’s life will be more probably provided for them.
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