Dr. Parveen Kumar
Humanity since its existence has been marred with various types of social stigmas. One such social stigma that continues to haunt humanity till now is the unintended pregnancies and abortions thereof. According to a 2016 study published in The Lancet by the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization, an estimated 56 million abortions took place globally each year between 2010 and 2014. These numbers make a strong case that abortion is a vital part of health care and should be easily available when needed. Unintended pregnancies often result in abortion denying the right to born. If we look at the statistics, we find that the global unintended pregnancy rate has declined since 1990-1994 from 79 to 64 per 1,000 women of reproductive age (15-49 years). However, the proportion of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion was 51% in 1990-1994 and it stayed roughly the same through 2000-2004. It then increased to 61% by 2015-2019. The global abortion rate decreased slightly between 1990-1994 and 2000-2004 and has since returned to levels last seen in the 1990s.
The Government of India took the historic decision of legalizing abortion with the historic ‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971), creating a framework meant to protect women from the grave risks of unsafe abortion. Yet, in spite of this legislative protection, unsafe abortion remains the third leading cause of maternal mortality in India, and close to eight women die from causes related to unsafe abortion each day. We estimate that 15·6 million abortions (14·1 million-17·3 million) occurred in India in 2015. A study by Dr. Sushila Singh and her associates on the incidence of unintended pregnancy and abortion in six Indian states revealed that the abortion rate was 47 abortions (42·2-52·1) per 1000 women aged 15-49 years. 3·4 million abortions (22%) were obtained in health facilities, 11·5 million (73%) abortions were medication abortions done outside of health facilities, and 0·8 million (5%) abortions were done outside of health facilities using methods other than medication abortion. Overall, 12·7 million (81%) abortions were medication abortions, 2·2 million (14%) abortions were surgical, and 0·8 million (5%) abortions were done through other methods that were probably unsafe. They estimated 48·1 million pregnancies, a rate of 144·7 pregnancies per 1000 women aged 15-49 years, and a rate of 70·1 unintended pregnancies per 1000 women aged 15-49 years. Abortions accounted for one third of all pregnancies and nearly half of pregnancies were unintended.
These abortions vary with the age also. At the global level, in the year 2014, a majority of patients were in their 20s (age 20-24 in 34% of abortions and age 25-29 in 27% of abortions) In the same year, 12% of patients were adolescents specifically, 2% of abortion patients were younger than 15 years old, 3% were 15-17 years old, and 8% were 18-19 years old. The special day is a celebration of the value and dignity of every human person from the moment of conception.
The International Day of the Unborn Child: To fight against the menace of abortions that deny the basic ‘right to born’ to a child, the ‘International Day of the Unborn Child’ or the day of ‘opposition to abortion’ is observed every year on March 25 all across the globe. Every year, the International Day of the Unborn Child is observed on March 25. It was established by Pope John Paul II to coincide with the Feast of the Annunciation. According to history, the first country to celebrate this holiday was El Salvador. It took place in 1993, when nation observed Day of the Right to Be Born. Following the move, other countries followed and initiated their own observances, connected to the unborn life. This day is also marked as a day to remember millions of unborn children whose lives have been ended by the violence of abortion. The promotion of the International Day of the Unborn Child was also endorsed by the Knights of Columbus. As per history, John Paul II viewed day as ‘a positive option in favour of life and the spread of a culture for life to guarantee respect for human dignity in every situation. The day is supported and observed by different religions. The representatives of the Muslim, Orthodox and Jewish communities participate in it since 1999.
Right to born: Article 67 of the constitution says that the unborn shall be considered as born for all rights accorded within the limits established by law. Every child has a right to be born free. Contrary to this right, the right to an unfettered birth is denied. It is denied through the use of prenatal sex determination techniques and the more recent development of different formula to select the sex of foetus. Every human being shall have the right to life and human dignity; the life of the foetus shall be protected from the moment of conception.
The way forward: Abortion can be attributed to a host of factors which include lack of knowledge and availability of contraceptives which lead to unintended pregnancy and often end in abortion, lack of adequate health infrastructure at the grassroots level, access to reproductive health care, miscarriages, improper development of the fetus in the womb, ignorance about sex education and the preference towards male baby. Although the Constitution of India prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex; gender based discrimination is a widely prevalent phenomenon in our society. Discrimination on the basis of sex has been going on since ancient times; the recent years are witnessing the misuse of technology for determination and formula for sex selection. The serious thing in this new form of technology is the total elimination of female fetus, thereby not even allowing girl fetus to blossom fully and to take birth. Thus the right of a person to be born free is denied through the use of pre natal sex determination technique and the more recent development of different formula to select the sex of the fetus at the time of conception. The moment the fetus is pronounced as female, attempts are made for termination of pregnancy bringing to an abrupt end of the growth of an unborn child. Both sex selective abortion and sex selection are the worst form of discrimination against women and gross violation of human right. If it continues to be practiced against the nature, there will be a wide disequilibrium in the male and female ratio.
The way forward lies in educating people not to discriminate on the basis of sex, making them aware of the need for safe pregnancies and the ways to control unintended pregnancies and ensuring that people especially women have access to accurate information about various aspects of reproductive health. The married women need safe, effective, affordable and acceptable contraception method of their choice. When women decide to have children, they must have access to services that can help them have a fit pregnancy, safe delivery and healthy baby so that the need for abortion does not arise at all. At the village level, the government has engaged Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) to take care of all the health and pregnancy needs of women and lactating mothers. A balanced diet rich in all the nutrients can help build the immune system of the girls at the reproductive age so as to ensure normal growth of the fetus in the womb at later stages and to resist the infections naturally. Family Planning is another important factor which can drastically reduce the number of unwanted and closely spaced births. Special compaigns focusing on preventing and treating reproductive tract and sexually transmitted infections should also be carried out at regular intervals.
(The author is a Scientist at SKUAST-K)
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