Ethical wisdom in family planning programming

Despite the contemporary intellectual consensus within the family planning (FP) community on the need to implement rights-based interventions, little attention has gone into understanding when, why, and which rights-based interventions are ethically sound. Although we are in a time of increased attention to decolonisation processes on global health, current political climate is shifting the discourse on the need for decolonisation, reproductive justice and rights-based approaches in sexual and reproductive health. Hence, we offer this paper to begin the conversation on what questions can help the design of ethical right-based family planning grants and interventions. We suggest six interconnected principles governing these conversations, which we present separately to look at their specific validity: (1) compassion; (2) vulnerability; (3) voice; (4) authenticity; (5) agency; and (6) equity. Using these principles as a guide, we encourage actors across the family planning community to come together to hold courageous critical conversations on whether the resources invested in family planning interventions go beyond effectiveness to have ethics as the ultimate goal. We hope that the family planning community will build on and expand upon this framework, incorporating it into standards of practice as part of a broader transition toward self-reflection and transparency around intentions and actions.