By Akanksha
Since time immemorial, there have been innumerous people who have lived a life that as they had bit the dust, was rather soon handed into the ever-so-humbling clutches of oblivion. However, there are a few who outlived their ephemeral bodies by dint of their works and words -having been etched into time far past their last breath:
"When a woman has scholarly inclinations, there is usually something wrong with her sexual organs."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
"A proper wife should be as obedient as a slave."
-Aristotle
"Any woman who doesn't give birth to as many children as she is capable is guilty of murder."
-St. Augustine
If such preeminent thinkers vociferously endorsed such opinions, then what would be the prevalent ideologies among the plebeians? No wonder to induce abortion in the past, not only outlandish remedies like sitting over a pot of steam or stewed onions emerged but also detrimental methods including strenuous pressure and dodgy surgeries.
These statements also delineate how from eons ago, women have been conditioned to be docile and essentially, obsequious. A right which should be indispensable and non-negotiable- a human being's right on her own body is being 'debated' and has lingered as a social, political and moral powder keg is utterly ludicrous. The onus of contraception being on women has only exacerbated the hornet's nest, notwithstanding the risks (even perilous) associated with the available contraceptive methods.
With supposedly progressive countries ushering in regressive practices with the US Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade (1973) in 2022, the landmark judgement which safeguarded right to abortion - couching it under "Right to Privacy'. The judgement was never codified in law enabling the overturn.
This was a giant blow to human rights everywhere as abortion rights perennially continue to be trampled and scrutinized across the globe. Nevertheless, the torchbearer of human rights- France- just recently made a major stride by becoming the first nation to explicitly enshrine abortion as a fundamental right sanctioning women's discretion to voluntarily and unilaterally make decisions concerning their bodies. In Europe, most countries have legalized abortion with terms ranging between 18 and 24 weeks.
A recent study that analyzed the data of nearly 24000 Indian women highlighted that an alarming 49.4% were deemed high-risk. This makes it all the more incredible that Indian women possess the right to be entitled to safe and legal abortion (on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian or social grounds) up to 24 weeks into their pregnancies regardless of their marital status having been protected by the Medical Termination of Pregnancies Act, 1971 and The Medical Termination of Pregnancies Rules, 2003.
However, a paramount limitation is the 24-week ceiling which according to Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves is "obsolete as abortions can now safely be performed right up to full term." And Mayo Clinic agrees. This isn't to dismiss the sequela that especially an infinitesimal proportion of women who aborted might endure but is an ode to the phenomenal advancements in medical science.
Another lamentable concern is sex-selective abortion which must be annihilated. However, the catch is that the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 requires reforms as research suggests a simultaneous conflation of legal abortion and illegal sex determination. Drafting such reforms, thus constitute a painstaking process and implementing them on ground-level predominantly beg for a
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root-and-branch societal overhaul.
Multiple scholars have remarked that banning or restricting abortion has forced women to resort to
to5 hazardous and illegal routes for terminating their pregnancy, inspiring reproductive tourism.
Mulling over the hypothetical possibility of men getting pregnant, a quote popularized by prominent US feminist activists in 1971 asseverate how the tables would have turned: “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament."
The first plausible outcome of an imposed pregnancy could be resentment towards a nascent life obturating the zenith of nourishment-the transcending unconditional love of a mother that every child deserves.
Secondly, a woman may opt for giving away her infant to secure it a better life. The abysmal plight of adoption centers, however, prognosticate a bleak picture of abuse and neglect which is aggravated by the arduous process of adoption.
Both these possibilities assume that the woman carrying an unwanted pregnancy makes through it. A woman may consider an abortion due to the likelihood of an operose and even fatal pregnancy, especially teenage pregnancies.
Another assumption is that the undesired pregnancy isn't the result of sexual violence and rape and the victim, that can range from a little girl to an older woman is now forced to carry such a pregnancy to term- this is just abomination!
Do anti-choice people ever wonder, that a woman, who they deem sinful, laissez-faire and insensitive would possibly be a sentient mother to an unwanted child? It is surreal that such people have a disjointed and inconsistent view of the character of the woman and the nature of the mother she will become and disregard the pernicious ramifications on the child they have seemingly unbound concern for.
An even graver concern is the splinter faction of women who don't support their ilk. Comedienne Iliza Shlesinger in one of her Netflix specials, articulated how one woman's affirmation of her life choices isn't the negation of another's existence; if a woman chooses to carry her baby to full term, very well so, but she shan't impose her choice on other women.
It's exceedingly blatant that how such beliefs are fundamentally entrenched to be punishment-centric for women rather than a genuine concern for human life, while utterly and unabashedly espousing disregard for the supposed life- whether of the unborn child or even the woman-who surprisingly happens to be a fully functional human too!
It must be duly noted how 'punishment' is to be meted to people who are pregnant, not the people who impregnate them! Essentially, they just hanker to hegemonize the independent agency of women. This elucidates the ironic inhumanity and superficiality of so-called "pro-life" lot. The unfounded, frivolous and perfunctory nature coupled with the narrow intellectual and empathetic bandwidth of anti-choice beliefs and sentiments reek of ever-brimming misogyny and stupefying ignorance! They merely wish to control that these people want to exert on broadly the agency and specifically the reproductive liberty of women. It takes a village to raise a child, but when the village only turns up for admonishing and forcing a woman to give birth, that no sooner than the birth occurs (assuming the child and mother make it) all hail the mother Mary and no burden the village-men carry! Many of these people, especially in the USA were so- called "anti-vaxxers", who were against letting the Government decide what they should do to their bodies- the irony!
Effectually, no sane person wishes to maliciously kill an unborn life and that's why the fight is for having the choice to abort if exigent or even extenuating circumstances force someone to unfortunately do so. There can be plethora of reasons - teenage pregnancy, failure of birth control, fetal anomaly, financial concerns, death of a partner, caring for existing child(ren), a personal tragedy, an abusive relationship, a rape, health concerns, etc.- all are legitimate reasons. Having a child is a life-transforming decision and thus must be synonymous with an individual's very own will and lest one feels unequipped to rise to the occasion, should terminate a pregnancy rather than wrecking the future of an innocent child besides
probably undoing oneself.
Charlotte Taft has so wonderfully remarked:
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"Women who have abortions do so because they value life and because they take very seriously the myriad responsibilities that come not just with birth, but with nurturing a human being."
From an inclusive standpoint, people who don't identify as women but can get pregnant should also possess the right to abort of their own accord. This is where an amendment is due in India- a recognition and an affirmation for the rights of LGBTQIA+ community.
'The Turnaway Study' by Diane Greene Foster argues that "without the power to make decisions about our own bodies, there is no democracy". This book examines the repercussions of unwanted pregnancy on women's lives based on the sample compromising about a thousand women and the significance of people taking informed decisions of their own volition.
Quoting the author:
"The most important message of this book, when considering the role that government should play in reproductive choices, is that people are able to make good decisions about their bodies, their childbearing, and their lives. People understand the consequences of abortion and the consequences of ongoing pregnancy and childbirth, and they can make that decision for themselves."
By Akanksha
Amazing, you know your facts