Abortion is one of the most controversial and legally active areas in medicine. It is one of the vastly debated topics and evokes an emotional response. Many have recognised their stance on the issue based on philosophical, religious and political ideals. There are vast differences in opinions regarding the matter. However, limiting it to any one of those would be to over simplify a complex situation
In India, polarised views about abortions have never been present. The land mark medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) act was passed in 1971 quietly without any debate, either by religious or political leaders on either side. In fact, it was passed largely due to the pressures from the population lobby. The act was quiet progressive and liberal
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The answer may be both yes and no. Intellectuals and policy makers’ debate issues based on personal ideologies and philosophies, this in turn instruments in shaping laws which then over a period of time get inculcated in the system and affect all people. The supposition that all politics is law, and all law is ethical would then solely depend on the philosophies and ideologies that the law is deduced from.
In India, the right of a woman to terminate her pregnancy has little to do with empowerment and freedom. In a study published by Bose et al it was found that socio- demographic factors such as literacy, socio economic status, age at union and contraceptive behaviour all have significant effects on the likelihood of abortion.(4) After the unfortunate Nirbhaya Delhi gang-rape incident of December 2012, a report by a committee headed by the late Justice J.S. Verma, pointed to the dire need for greater gender-sensitization in Indian youth. According to the NFHS 3 report less than 37% of women take part in any household decision. (5) More than 55% of our ever married women or pregnant women for that matter are anaemic. (5) In the given scenario, is it an illusion to believe that the position of women in the Indian is changing? Are we deliberately looking at the places that look good? Looking at the heart of the country, our rural and tribal
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In India and other developing countries, the shortage is even more acute. (6) The high rate of criminal abortions stands as an evidence to this fact. This in turn became a major contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality. Any attempt to address this problem must obviously aim to decrease the demand for abortions. Strengthening and promoting contraceptive services would be the first step towards this. The use of emergency contraception, post coital contraceptives or interceptive could be an important component of strategies employed to lower the incidence of unwanted pregnancies and thus