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?
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