Three's a crowd? The battle over population and reproduction

Filmed at the Battle of Ideas 2009 Battle for Reproductive Choice strand, supported by the Wellcome trust and bpas. The speakers are as follows: Dr Austen Ivereigh, Catholic commentator; lead organiser, West London Citizens; former press and policy advisor to the Archbishop of Westminster; Dr Ellie Lee, lecturer in social policy, University of Kent; co-ordinator of Pro-Choice Forum; Adrian Stott, principal, Enable Solutions; trustee, Optimum Population Trust and Mark Walport, director, Wellcome Trust; formerly professor of medicine, Imperial College London. The Chair is Tony Gilland, science and society director, Institute of Ideas; director, Institute of Ideas & Pfizer Debating Matters Competition; editor, What is Science Education For?

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• battle of ideas
• institute of ideas
• debate
• politics
• science
• reproduction
• population

[MrDowney666]

tits

[badger5079]

@SirGeorge8600

Third world populations are uneducated and more vulnerable to the illogical dictats of religious leaders. Third world people are less educated about STIs.

[SirGeorge8600]

@badger5079 And clearly Catholic countries know how to use contraception...hmmm. Maybe it's low average IQ's of the third world? After all, if they're following 100% of what the Pope says unlike the vast majority of your normal average Catholics then something must be wrong in the head...

[badger5079]

@SirGeorge8600

Do you deny that third world birth rates are high due to a lack of use of contraception? Catholicism is only one reason for this behaviour, of course.

[SirGeorge8600]

@badger5079 Bullshit. I'm an atheist, but I'm also a realist. Statistics from multiple sources show that countries where the majority of believers are Catholic either have a neutral or declining birth rate, and only a small fraction of these countries have an increasing birthrate that are in the third world, and was increasing before Catholicism established itself there....

[malsifood]

Our time has run out! Enabling human choices does not work! The population of the west will be replaced by the exploding muslim countries! Egypt: 80 Mio. Inhabitants. 1/2 are under 20 years old. So: 20 Mio. couples the next 20 years. Lets assume that the egypt government tomorrow only allows 2 children per couple! What will happen? + 40Mio children +50% Inhabitants! This is, if the government acts!(best case) But they will not! Islam does not permit fammily planning!

[gits6666]

First world civlization consuming more than 100x the amnt resources than a third world person to sustain a lifestyle that is generally filled empty comercialized fluff to keep unbalanced economies afloat. People want to be able theire cake and be able to eat it, hording and is in opertunism is programmed into our genes. Population control and lifestyle regression are dicissions most people are unwilling to make. We need to understand why. NO CAUSE NO EFFECT. NO CHOICE NO MORE RESOURCES.

[nonaCbarC]

There are two ways to reduce birth rate: contraception, abstinence, i.e. contraception isn't the only way to reduce birth rate.

[badger5079]

If everyone has access to contraception, this will allow a great reduction in birth rates. Allowing people access to contraception is a form of liberty, not coercion. The Catholic church invades peoples' private lives to dictate to them that contraception is wrong because it wants to increase the number of Catholics. This is leading to an unnecessarily high birth rate which is unsustainable.

[badger5079]

The population of the earth is spiraling and will eventually cause us to run out of resources. The shock may come via war, disease or famine or flood but something is going to cause the population of humans on the closed system of the earth to drop. It would be easier for humanity if we reduced our numbers before the reduction is enforced upon us.