Amnesty International: Iran's proposed laws view women as 'baby-making machines'

Iran's two draft laws, which are meant to increase its population, are under fire from Amnesty International. The organization says the laws would reduce Iranian women to "baby-making machines."

One of the proposed laws in question would ban vasectomies and limit access to contraceptives, while the other would make it difficult for childless women to become employed. If the laws are passed, they would mark a departure from the Iran government's previous policy of subsidizing vasectomies and providing access to affordable contraceptives.

An Amnesty report, released Wednesday, says the laws would "set the country back by decades," adding that blocking contraceptive access would expose women to "serious health risks" and would violate their human rights. The report also notes that the second proposed law would make divorce more difficult, which could have "devastating consequences" on women in abusive relationships.

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"The authorities are promoting a dangerous culture in which women are stripped of key rights and viewed as baby-making machines rather than human beings with fundamental rights to make choices about their own bodies and lives," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. "The bills send a message that women are good for nothing more than being obedient housewives and creating babies and suggests they do not have the right to work or pursue a career until they have fulfilled that primary role and duty."