The Taliban’s latest crackdown on women’s rights has taken a devastating turn banning access to contraception and closing reproductive health clinics across Afghanistan, leaving countless women and mothers fighting for survival.
In recent weeks, reports have emerged from multiple Afghan provinces detailing the Taliban’s enforcement of new restrictions prohibiting the sale and use of birth control methods, including pills and injections. Pharmacies have been ordered to remove contraceptives from shelves, while midwives and doctors face punishment for providing reproductive health services.
Health experts warn that the ban could worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis. With maternal mortality rates among the highest in the world, the lack of access to family planning and safe healthcare could lead to a surge in preventable deaths.
Local women’s rights advocates many speaking anonymously out of fear say the Taliban’s policy effectively strips women of their fundamental right to life and health. International organizations have condemned the decision, calling it a “silent execution” of women’s autonomy.
As clinics shutter and supplies vanish, Afghan women are left with no choices, no safety, and no voice trapped in a future where survival itself has become a crime.
