Less Birth Control = More Babies + More Families In Poverty

So don't take my word on it. The Washington Post reports that in the Phillipines, high birthrates (and the lack of access to contraception that causes them) are keeping many families in poverty. Low-income Filipino families have extremely limited access to birth control. Federal contraceptive distribution programs have been defunded, and donated contraceptives will no longer be distributed in the government-run clinics that serve poor families. Shocker: family size among the poor is growing, and so is the number of Filipino families in poverty.

In recent weeks, public alarm in the Philippines over the soaring price of rice has focused attention on the fast-growing population and its dependence on rice imports.

Despite steadily increasing rice harvests, farmers here have been unable to keep pace with domestic demand. Economists here have calculated, though, that the Philippines would not need imported rice if it had managed to control population growth -- like its neighbor Thailand.

In 1970, the population of each country was about 36 million people and growing at about 3 percent a year. But with an aggressive family planning program that provides the poor with free contraceptives, Thailand has since reduced its population growth rate to 0.9 percent. In the Philippines, the rate has declined sluggishly to about 2.1 percent.

There are now about 26 million more people in the Philippines than in Thailand.

"It's a no-brainer," said Ernesto M. Pernia, professor of economics at the University of the Philippines.

No kidding, no brainer.