Reframing Ideal Family Planning Services Through a Rights-Based Quality of Care Lens

For the advancement of reproductive health, gender equality, and sustainable development, high-quality family planning (FP) services are essential. However, having access to services alone does not ensure success. Equally important is the standard of treatment given. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the best FP services should maintain human rights, therefore ensuring non-discrimination, dignity, autonomy, privacy, informed choice, access, and continuity of care 1. Historically stressing six aspects as pillars of quality, the “Bruce-Jain framework” is the freedom of choice for method selection, shared guidance, professional expertise, communication dynamics, continued support, and a comprehensive care network 2. Building upon this, a rights-based approach stresses that FP services must prioritize individual agency, free from coercion or bias. Research on client-centeredness in providing effective contraceptive care and its relevance for more general reproductive health care underlines the several benefits of client-centeredness in delivering good contraceptive care and its significance for more general 3.