The closing ceremony of the International Conference “Ethical Analyses by Pro-Life Advocates” was held, emphasizing the connection between ethics, jurisprudence, law, and media in addressing the issue of abortion.
Speakers at the conference, ranging from seminary professors to officials from the Ministry of Health and cultural activists, stressed the necessity of changing governance approaches, strengthening legal deterrents, and the decisive role of media and art in protecting the life of the fetus.
According to a report by the Jahanbanou news base, the closing ceremony of the International Conference “Ethical Analyses by Pro-Life Advocates” was held at the Ghadir Convention Hall with the presence of seminary and university professors, executive officials, researchers, and cultural activists. This conference, dedicated to examining the ethical, jurisprudential, legal, and social dimensions of abortion, sought to reinterpret the issue of the fetus not merely as a medical topic, but as a human, ethical, and civilizational issue.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Dr. Alireza Al-Bouyeh, the scientific secretary of the conference and associate professor at the Research Institute of Islamic Sciences and Culture, by asking the question “Why should abortion be addressed from an ethical perspective?”, explained three fundamental functions of ethics and stated: Every ethical or unethical action first shapes the inner identity of a human being, then affects others, and finally connects with the order of existence.
Emphasizing that the most important effect of ethics is its impact on “the human being itself,” he warned: In Purgatory (Barzakh), a person sees the truth of their actions but has no chance to return. Whereas the world is a place for awakening and making amends, and this conference can serve as a jolt to remove negligence.
Subsequently, Dr. Reza Saeedi, head of the Center for Youth Population, Family Health, and Schools at the Ministry of Health, by presenting statistics on the status of abortion in the country, considered spontaneous abortions as part of the natural pregnancy process, but emphasized that the main issue for society is induced and intentional abortions; a significant portion of which are performed illegally and in unsafe environments, endangering the lives of mothers as well.
He deemed the confrontation of regulatory bodies with networks promoting and teaching abortion a necessity and announced the activation of the “Nafas” campaign and the telephone system 4030 for counseling and dissuasion from abortion.
Dr. Zahra Tavoli, head of the Maternal Health Office at the Ministry of Health, was another speaker at this ceremony who, by explaining the structural measures of the Ministry of Health, announced the formation of a national and medical sciences university-level working group for the prevention of intentional abortion.
Referring to the compilation of the “Fetal Life Preservation Package” and the start of specialized training from September 2024, she considered the weakness of deterrent judicial rulings as one of the serious challenges and stated: Out of 77 reported cases in 2024, only a limited number have led to effective rulings, a situation which cannot prevent the repetition of violations.
Tavoli also, by analyzing the root causes of the tendency towards abortion, pointed to common misconceptions in society; including fear of pregnancy at older ages, inappropriate spacing between children, and the mistaken notion of pregnancy being “ill-timed.” Citing scientific sources, she deemed many of these beliefs unfounded and emphasized that frightening mothers is itself a factor pushing them towards abortion.
In another part of the ceremony, Hojjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Najaf Lakzaei, the conference president and head of the Research Institute of Islamic Sciences and Culture, described this scientific event as the beginning of an innovative path and said: Our issue today is moving from idea to system and from system to implementation.
He considered the decrease in the desire for marriage and childbearing as a sign of weakened ethical responsibility in society and warned about the dominance of an individualistic perspective.
Dr. Abbas Mowzoon, a researcher and media activist, with a critical look at the cultural policies and approaches of past decades, called the role of media decisive and said: Society does not move with articles and conferences; it is media and art that shape public taste and perspective.
Referring to the mockery of large families in past media productions, he called for serious, professional, and artistic investment to stigmatize abortion and promote childbearing. Mowzoon described this trend as the result of “incorrect and targeted cultural engineering” and added: In this very atmosphere, having children gradually became a symbol of backwardness, while in contrast, small families were encouraged and praised. Even to advance this trend, terminology was crafted, and words like “unwanted child” became entrenched in the public mind; whereas how can a human being that God has willed be ‘unwanted’?
Mowzoon emphasized: Real media work is not cheap or slogan-based. One cannot expect miracles with a few simple clips. Producing distinguished artistic works, especially indirect and subliminal messages that can influence the audience’s subconscious, requires cost, planning, and the presence of professional experts.
At the end, Mowzoon considered the main solution for confronting the population crisis and illegal abortions to be a “media revolution” and stressed: If we want a culture of childbearing to become institutionalized, we must portray large families as models in artistic and media works. This path will only bear fruit with the synergy of the seminary, university, media, and people.
At this conference, Samira Sadat Mir-Ismaili, head of the national secretariat of “Nafas,” presented a report on the activities of this center and announced: So far, 435 Nafas centers have been activated across the country, and over 23,000 mothers have been dissuaded from the decision to abort through specialized counseling.
Emphasizing that abortion, even aside from the population issue, is unethical, she stated the ultimate goal of this campaign is to reduce the statistics of intentional abortions to zero.
The conference “Ethical Analyses by Pro-Life Advocates” concluded its work by emphasizing the synergy of the fields of ethics, jurisprudence, law, medicine, and media; a conference whose central message was the necessity of comprehensive defense of fetal life and redefining this issue as an ethical and human concern at the societal level.
Mahta Sanei
