Background: There is a lack of information on the practice of family planning among Muslim women in New York City in the United States of America (USA) [hereinafter known as “Muslim women residing in the United States” (MWRIU)], Tehran in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The limited figures on this issue are either outdated or mere estimates. The importance of sexual and reproductive health of Muslim women is expected to have massive effects on the social and economic progress of developing countries like the IRI and Malaysia. It is also expected to have imperative impacts on the attempts to empower the MWRIU community and enhance their health status to meet the national standards.
Objective: The study objective is to explore and compare the practice of family planning, namely on contraceptive use and abortion among Muslim women in 3 major cities of different countries.
Methodology: A survey of 379, 377 and 380 respondents from New York City, Tehran and Kuala Lumpur respectively was conducted in 2013 using self-administered questionnaires.
Results: There were significant differences in contraceptive and abortion practices across these countries (P<0.01). While a significant 86.6% of Iranian and 66.2% of the MWRIU used contraception, only 22.9% of the Malaysian women did so. For abortion, 13.6% of the MWRIU and 6.3% of the Malaysian respondents had abortion at least once; while only 22% of Iranians revealed their abortion history, totaling 32.1% of them who had abortion. Financial problems and having an unsupportive husband were among the major factors hindering their practice of healthy family planning.
Conclusion: Educational campaigns should be promoted to increase the awareness on the permissibility of family planning in Islam, as well as on sexual and reproductive rights.