Gave Birth To HIS Baby

Let me start with a tale.

Kamla Devi was pregnant, everybody was happy. After nine months of expectations the fortunate day came when her water broke; a baby was going to be delivered! They rushed to the nearest government hospital, excited! But the hospital asked for money, which her family did not have, they had to go elsewhere. No hospital was agreeing to accommodate her, she searched for five days. She searched for 5 days with a dead foetus in her stomach. Her third baby died. She got pregnant again soon after that. This time during delivery, she died.

India has just recognised “Reproduction Rights” as a legal right and is the first country to do so. It recognises the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. It also includes the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence as expressed in human rights documents. In the exercise of this right, they should take into account the needs of their living and future children and their responsibilities towards the community. The citizens of countries other than India might be confounded- “If they don’t decide, then who does? The Godfather?” Well no, the husbands mostly. In a typical Indian family, the husband earns while the wife does household chores. So of course, only the husband can decide the matters of the house, amount of children THEY want, the money and facilities SHE should get, her behaviour in front of others, her number of breaths…

Many women in villages are coerced to go through sterilization. At many places, the village doctors offer perks like money or other goods for this “small” operation tempting the village girls into this hole. I know it is shocking, but it’s true. The gruesome operation leaves them in pain, and they lose all their right to children. Moreover, the “hospitals” to which such women are taken are filthy and deprived of basic facilities. They lie on the floor, hurt and in pain. Moreover, most of the women lucky enough to get into hospitals never want to return there. In hospital rooms across small towns in India, the hospital facilities are pathetic. Instances of two mothers delivering on the same bed are quite common, even in hospitals in ‘developed’ states like Karnataka. This is despite the proficient orders of the court to erect hospitals with good facilities (including a playground for children to play). When checked, the orders were found only on paper. The execution was so poor that the hospital itself doesn’t exist at many places. If only the execution would have been able, thousands of women like kamla bai would have been alive.

Tubectomy in women is not the only option to curb child birth. Vasectomy in men is much less painful and complicated. It is a simpler procedure as compared to tubectomy. But the men all over India are unable to do it because if they lose their abilities to reproduce, they will automatically turn into eunuchs, lose their masculinity and start dressing up like Justin Bieber. They will not be men anymore. This very male ego has led to the pain and suffering of women across India.

 Reproduction rights will grant every couple, especially mother the authority to decide the number of babies they want. They decide when they want procreation to start, and when to stop. Yes, it justifies abortion (without knowing the gender or discriminating against it). It inevitably raises the issue of rights of the foetus. Namely, whether the foetus is entitled to the same rights as human? The topic is debatable, with one side arguing that they don’t until it develops and hence it is unreasonable for the mother to suffer because of it and the other say they have as much right as us to come into and enjoy this world. Take a side.

As far as abortion because of gender discrimination goes, here is some food for thought-

In a country like India, where women are oppressed, ostracised and killed at various stages of life after birth, isn’t it better that the foetus be killed during the first three months, when it is not fully formed?