Bearing children not always a woman's choice.

• Author: Block, Ben
• Position: EYE ON EARTH - Brief article

Many women in rural Jordan do not control the timing of their own pregnancies, according to a recent survey. Women regularly discuss family planning with their husbands, yet only 54 percent said they had a choice in the frequency of child births, the Integration Health and Empowerment of Women in the South Region Project reported in January. The study, which surveyed 807 women in 2008, also found that nearly one-third of respondents did not make decisions related to their use of contraceptives.

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Population experts consider women's control of their reproductive health key to slowing global population growth. The Middle East and North Africa region is home to some of the world's higher growth rates, with an additional 260 million people projected to live there by 2050.

The Jordanian government began advocating longer intervals...