Family Planning By Means of Contraception: An Ethical Comparison of Different Methods of contraception Used by Couples of Kalingalinga,Mtendere,Kabwata and Kamwala Compounds in Lusaka,Zambia

Abstract

This study is an ethical assessment of "Family Planning by Means of Contraception". Its aim is to present an ethical comparison of different methods of contraception used by couples of Kalingalinga, Mtendere, Kabwata and Kamwala compounds as means of family planning. This study is undertaken because some people use contraceptives without paying attention to ethical issues raised by contraception. For instance, the wrong usage of contraception may lead to unplanned pregnancies. Thus, knowledge about the risks and benefits of contraceptives is very important. In addition, some Christians view contraceptives as a means of abortion, which has, however, not yet been established. The study employed utilitarianism to investigate the ethical issues associated with methods of contraception. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to gather primary data from the sixty (60) couples and twelve (12) key informants from various health institution and churches. The findings show that contraception methods are associated with ethical issues such as promiscuity, abortion and contracting sexual transmitted diseases. Furthermore, the study has revealed that some contraception methods pose risks to the users. The risks include prolonged bleeding during menstrual period, headache and weakness. The study also shows that contraception has various benefits. Among them are the prevention of unplanned pregnancy, regulation of the spacing of children as well as the number of children, and some contraceptives protect the user from contracting transmitted diseases. The study shows that Depo-Provera is the favourite contraceptive method used by many couples in the areas of the study, followed by pills, condoms, and natural family planning. On the other hand, condoms seem to be the best method when their risks and benefits are considered because they are the only method that protects the users from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. In line with utilitarianism, the study concluded that condoms are ethically seen the best contraceptive method, as compared with the other methods. The study recommends that the government and private health institutions should provide a variety of contraceptive methods, and should provide enough information about contraceptives and encourage men to use methods of contraception suitable to them.