Ira L. Neiger: Planned Parenthood

Enlarge Image Image Gallery

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Many of today's environmental problems boil down to one word: people. With no real natural predators or other checks to control our numbers, an increasingly good case can be made for viewing the species "man" as a cancer upon the face of the planet. One United Nations survey has projected that—whereas the earth's population increased about 20,000,000 annually only 40 years ago—it now accelerates by more than 72,000,000 every 12 months. That is, we are not only increasing . . . but we are frightfully increasing the rate at which we increase.

Clearly, when confronted with such numbers, the finite platform (earth) upon which we live must begin to show alarming signs of wear and tear at some point . . . and many concerned individuals believe that point has already been reached. "Something must be done to limit population growth," they say, "especially in the areas of illegitimate and unwanted births. "

And something is being done. Planned Parenthood is just one of the many public and private agencies that currently provide services, information and education about the popula tion problem, contraception, abortion, vasectomy and sexuality in general. The Director of Public Information for P.P.'s New York City office is Ira L. Neiger, and Allan Richards recently visited that office to question Mr. Neiger about Planned Parenthood's work.

PLOWBOY: How long has family planning and Planned Parenthood been in existence?

NEIGER: Family planning has been practiced in one way or another since man formed the first tribal units. Birth control was known and practiced in ancient African kingdoms and. in this country, among American Indian tribes before Columbus arrived. The diaphragm was developed as a birth control device in the late 19th Century and condoms have been used many, many years.

Our organization, Planned Parenthood, has existed only since the early '50s and Planned Parenthood in New York City is just five years old. Our New York City operation, however — while relatively young in its current form — represents an amalgamation of borough units that were here 50 years ago when Margaret Sanger was active.

PLOWBOY: Many environmentalists feel that overpopulation is one of the most pressing problems facing the human race today and — depending on the foundation or research group being quoted — project that we'll all be standing shoulder to shoulder by the year 2,000 or 2,040 or whatever. How do you and Planned Parenthood view such projections?

NEIGER: First of all, we like to talk about the situation as being one of "quality of life" as opposed to the simplistic term, "overpopulation". Overpopulation is a problem, but there are varying opinions as to how critical the condition is at present. There are even varying opinions as to how big the problem will be 20 or 30 years from now. There are other factors that contribute to quality of life which are not necessarily related to the birth rate.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print