Grand Tree of Overpopulation
The three most influential causes for overpopulation, in my opinion, are advances in medicines, religious pro-life activists, and lack of family planning.
Pro-life equals excess life
According to the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, the following religions listed are against abortions with some exceptions to varying religions: Early Christian Tradition, Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Protestant denominations, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism. This also includes some atheists and agnostics (Religious views on abortion. (2014). According to the Pew Research Religion & Public Life Project, they estimate... "that there are 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children around the globe, representing 84% of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion" (The Global Religious Landscape. (2012, December 18). In other words, "Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group" (The Global Religious Landscape. (2012, December 18). This means that a majority of people who are against abortions are in a religious cult who are not allowing people to have abortions which helps lower the global population.
However, in some religions, there are exceptions to their beliefs. For example, in Religious views on abortion (2014), Judaism allows women to abort their unborn if "...the mother's life was in danger" and in Religious Groups' Official Positions on Abortion (2014, January 16), the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, Episcopal Church, and many more allows abortion in cases of rape, deformities, and more. Even though some religions do allow abortions, it still means that many others will try to do anything to stop it. According to the Pew Research Religion & Public Life Project, "The demographic study – based on analysis of more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers – finds 2.2 billion Christians (32% of the world’s population), 1.6 billion Muslims (23%), 1 billion Hindus (15%), nearly 500 million Buddhists (7%) and 14 million Jews (0.2%) around the world as of 2010. In addition, more than 400 million people (6%) practice various folk or traditional religions, including African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Native American religions and Australian aboriginal religions. An estimated 58 million people – slightly less than 1% of the global population – belong to other religions, including the Baha’i faith, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Tenrikyo, Wicca and Zoroastrianism, to mention just a few (The Global Religious Landscape. (2012, December 18).
Overall, as long other religions will participate in the practice of abortions, there will not be enough progress in lowering the global population to sustainable means.
However, in some religions, there are exceptions to their beliefs. For example, in Religious views on abortion (2014), Judaism allows women to abort their unborn if "...the mother's life was in danger" and in Religious Groups' Official Positions on Abortion (2014, January 16), the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, Episcopal Church, and many more allows abortion in cases of rape, deformities, and more. Even though some religions do allow abortions, it still means that many others will try to do anything to stop it. According to the Pew Research Religion & Public Life Project, "The demographic study – based on analysis of more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers – finds 2.2 billion Christians (32% of the world’s population), 1.6 billion Muslims (23%), 1 billion Hindus (15%), nearly 500 million Buddhists (7%) and 14 million Jews (0.2%) around the world as of 2010. In addition, more than 400 million people (6%) practice various folk or traditional religions, including African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Native American religions and Australian aboriginal religions. An estimated 58 million people – slightly less than 1% of the global population – belong to other religions, including the Baha’i faith, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Tenrikyo, Wicca and Zoroastrianism, to mention just a few (The Global Religious Landscape. (2012, December 18).
Overall, as long other religions will participate in the practice of abortions, there will not be enough progress in lowering the global population to sustainable means.
Advances in medicine
Technological advancements in medicine has increased the life expectancy for people around the world. To make this issue simpler, only data concerning about the United States of America shall be used. According to the Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Control of Infectious Diseases, "[deaths] from infectious diseases have declined markedly in the United States during the 20th century" (Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Control of Infectious Diseases. (2001, May 2). For example, "[in 1900], 30.4% of all deaths occurred among children aged less than 5 years; in 1997, that percentage was only 1.4%" (Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Control of Infectious Diseases. (2001, May 2). This means that more people-especially children- are able to survive from fatal diseases that affected them before the use of vaccinations, antibiotics, and other medicines that were available to the public to protect themselves against diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis (TB), and diarrhea and enteritis, which (together with diphtheria) caused one third of all deaths which were the three leading causing diseases in the 1900's according to Figure 1 and Figure 2 (Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Control of Infectious Diseases. (2001, May 2). Overall, with more lives being saved every year with new medical discoveries, there will be more people living on Earth further contributing to overpopulation.
Lack of family planning
According to the United Nations Population Fund, "the number of women who have an unmet need for modern contraception in 2012 is 222 million. This number declined slightly between 2008 and 2012 in the developing world overall, but increased in some subregions, as well as in the 69 poorest countries" (Singh & Darroch, 2012). Although there are significantly less people being born, there are still a lot of women who don't have access to contraception. Women who lack access to medical centers that give treatment to childbearing women can be at risk of death. According to the article "International Reproductive Health and Family Planning: U.S. Funding Priorities and Policy Implications" made by the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), "The lack of access to voluntary family planning is a major cause of mortality for the more than 356,000 women a year who die from pregnancy and childbirth complications" and even when they still try to abort their child without appropriate family planning management according to the International Reproductive Health and Family Planning: U.S. Funding Priorities and Policy Implications (2012) about "...40,000 women die each year from unsafe abortion.” Although it may seem harsh, childbirth death does lower the population. Yet, there are other, more ethical approaches in decreasing the population without resulting in deaths. In other words, instead of having about 40,000 people die from unsafe abortions, they could have proper access to medical centers to abort their child if they wish to; thus, preventing millions of children from being born (Singh & Darroch 2012) and (International Reproductive Health and Family Planning: U.S. Funding Priorities and Policy Implications, 2012).