Taliban Members Roam Door-to-Door, Threatening Midwives: The Reason Revealed

The Taliban, who hold power in Afghanistan, have banned the sale of contraceptives in two major cities, asserting that their use by women is a Western conspiracy to control the Muslim population. The Guardian has reported that Taliban members are going door-to-door, threatening midwives and ordering pharmacies to clear their shelves of contraceptive drugs and devices.

“They came to my shop twice with guns and threatened me not to keep contraceptive pills. They regularly check every pharmacy in Kabul, and we have stopped selling these products,” said one shop owner in the city.

A veteran midwife, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that she has been threatened several times. She recounted that one of the Taliban commanders told her, “You are not allowed to go outside and preach to the population to control the Western agenda.”

Other pharmacists in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif confirmed that they were ordered not to stock contraceptive medications. “Products like contraceptive pills and Depo-Provera injections have been banned from being stocked in pharmacies since the beginning of this month, and we are extremely afraid to sell our existing supplies,” said another shop owner in Kabul.

This latest assault is part of the Taliban's ongoing campaign against women's rights, as they have ceased girls' higher education, closed universities to young women, forced women to leave their jobs, and restricted their ability to leave their homes since coming to power in August 2021. The newspaper reports that one in every 14 women in Afghanistan dies from pregnancy-related causes.