Abortion: A basic reproductive right
Some days ago, I came across the question on Quora - 'What is legal but feels illegal in India?'. The thing that came to my mind as an answer was- abortion.
If you have had a traumatic history of abortion or simply against the idea of it because of your blind beliefs irrespective of facts, you can simply stop reading here only.
Abortion is considered as a sin in India and across many religions and countries. Where parenthood is considered as the main task to tick off in life's to-do list, on the other hand, abortion is not considered as a option and a choice.
But why is abortion considered in a bad light? I now wonder, in my first year of college, that though we had been taught about reproduction in biology in our school, why were we never taught anything related to abortion? Not everyone wants to have a child, or a pregnancy can be result of sexual abuse as well. If they can mention reproduction, so why not abortion?
I will write down some common statements and questions against abortion and answer them with facts as well as my opinion.
1. "Abortion is murder."
A. Well, the foetus is not born yet. And what is guarantee that it will not be assaulted in any way in its lifetime after its born? We live in an unsafe world, more so in an unsafe country like India, especially for girls, where there is risk to our life in every lane... or umm, unfortunately even at our own house for many people out there.
2. "Why did a person indulged in intimacy when they didn't wanted a child?"
A. Contraceptives can fail as well which would have lead to an unwanted pregnancy. If boys can abandon their girlfriends/wives, so the girl has every right to abort the foetus as well (as long as its not gender biased). Also the unwanted pregnancy can be a result of sexual assault. Why would anyone wanna keep their molestor's child or have a baby which will lead them to (unhappily) sacrifice their dreams and career?
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| Image source: writer_sahab on Instagram |
3. "She can give birth to the child and then give it up for adoption."
A. You really expect her to take all the pain, all the financial pressure of pre-natal care and then give the child to someone else? Unless if she herself wants it, no one else should have a say in what she should do with the child.
4. "She couldn't care enough for the unborn child."
A. Miscarriages (spontaneous abortion) are more common in today's age due to various factors- abnormal chromosomes, medical conditions, lifestyle of the mother (drinking, smoking etc) as well as father, any accident, environmental hazards, medications, maternal age, etc. Also if miscarriages doesn't happen, then this health complications can affect both the mother and the unborn child physically and mentally. This is a valid reason for abortion if the unintended pregnancy causes any physical or mental health issue to mother or the child. If the mother have some physical health issues or have mental health issues, how would she be able to look after the baby anyway, when she herself is struggling with her health? Also sometimes the baby or mother can develop health or pregnancy complications, where abortion might be needed to save life of both the mother and the child. And isn't the responsibility to care for the mother and unborn child of the father as well (if he is present in her life)? Why is all the blame put on the woman?
5. "Abortion causes infertility"
A. If performed in safe conditions by a trained medical professional, it will not. It can affect the fertility only if done in unsafe situations and by untrained people. As long as woman have a trained and experienced medical professional and a safe environment, you are safe and it wouldn't affect her fertility. Also getting an abortion in a unsafe and non-sterilized place by an untrained person can cause more serious issues like blood loss or even death of mother.
6. "Foetus can feel pain"
A. This is extremely unlikely to be true. A foetus in the early stages of development lacks the developed brain and nervous system to feel pain or even be aware of it's surroundings. The neuro-anatomical mechanism required to feel pain and sensation is not complete until about 24-26 weeks into pregnancy. As the upper limit worldwide for termination is 20-24 weeks, and the vast majority of pregnancies are terminated well before this, the statement of foetus experiencing pain doesn't hold true.
7. "Its a religious sin."
A. If you are accidentally pregnant and you believe in abortion as a sin, you are free to keep the baby (and raise it yourself or give it up for adoption). But no one has the right to moral police others on the name of religion. Not all are the followers of religion (may be of god or not even that), so keep your unasked religious advice to yourself. And wouldn't it be a sin to give birth to the child and abuse it in form of child neglect or even physical and sexual abuse, and make the life of the child way worse?
8. "Abortion can lead to mental health issues like depression."
A. Being forced to give birth to an unwanted child and care for it might cause more mental health damage than abortion for both mother as well as child, probably for years or lifelong. Of course, it is traumatic, more so if abortion was forced or pregnancy was a result of assault. One can consult therapist to deal with the trauma caused due to harassment or forced abortion or the normal temporary side effects of abortion on mental health of the mother (which aren't serious and goes away pretty soon).
9. "Abortion causes cancer."
A. This alleged link is not supported by any scientific literature, and the apparent link between breast cancer and induced abortion is explicitly rejected by the medical community.
Abortion is not any problem as long as it's not gender biased. There it is unethical (one is clearly discriminating on basis of sex of the unborn child alone) and punishable under law. Its anyway illegal in India to check the sex (sex and gender are two different terms) of the unborn child.
Though the abortion laws in India are not as free compared to European countries, but they are surely better than many other countries. Also the abortion bill (MTP) in going under a development for more freedom in abortion and hope that it gets signed by the Indian president soon🤞.
Though Indian law and law of many countries have legalized abortion, it is still looked down as a sin among various sections of the society. There is judgement, shame and even social exclusion of woman who have had to undergo abortion.
Its high time that we let woman decide for themselves for either wanting to take pregnancy to the term or to terminate it, because she is the one who will get affected by it the most- her health, her dreams, her career and her social life. No other person, be it her husband/boyfriend, parents or in-laws or the society, have any rights over her body and her decision. No one can force her to either keep the child or abort it. Abortion might be a bit traumatic for some, so let's not add any further stress to the woman who have to or had undergone abortion for any of the reason. (To know possible reasons why a person may not wish to have a child, click here). Do not pest her to know if she had undergone any abortion, as its her right to keep that information private to protect her own mental health. Abortion can have some effect on mental health of the woman and she wouldn't be in mental state deal with moral policing. Respect someone's personal life and decisions.
If you are a man, you have freaking no rights to control her body. But if you are the father of that unborn child, all you can do is discuss with her about how you feel about it without guilt tripping her, but the final decision rests with her and you must respect it. And if you are another woman who is not carrying that child, you have no rights to control her body and decisions just as well.
If you are the woman carrying (accidental) foetus, the choice is yours. As long as you are above 18, you do not need anyone's permission to abort. Incase you are below 18, police (and maybe parents/guardian) would have to be involved as it would be a case of statutory rape across most of the countries. And if you do choose to abort, search for non-judgemental gynaecologists in your city or nearby metropolitan city so that you are not guilt tripped or given unasked advice to keep the child. To know the common questions asked before/during abortion procedure, click here for part 1 and part 2 (information given in Instagram reels by doctor named Dr.Tanaya Narendra aka Dr.Cuterus).
To know more about how unwanted pregnancy can effect a woman and a couple, see this Malayalam movie named Sara's (you can watch with English subtitles). It's an amazing movie portraying how an unexpected pregnancy can affect a woman.
Lets not judge others for their decisions and stop moral policing their bodies, because-
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| No Uterus, No uninformed opinion* Image source- Pinterest |
An edit: This just doesn't apply for women who carry the child, but also non-binary people who can give birth. It's their personal choice too, to either keep the unborn child or abort it. Though I do not know the laws that are there to protect them.
Edit 2, 27 Oct 2024- U. S. elections are around the corner, so voters, please vote for the party who promises to uplift the nationwide ban on abortion.
Scientific information sources:
1) Dr Tanaya Narendra (DrCuterus)
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