When singer Nikki Minaj was 16, she discovered she was pregnant. At the time, the singer was attending LaGuardia, a Manhattan-based performing arts school, and on the way to fulfilling her dreams. “I was a teenager. It was the hardest thing I’d ever gone through,” she said in a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone. Minaj ended up having an abortion, which she admits was the right choice for her at the time. “It’d be contradictory if I said I wasn’t pro-choice. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t have anything to offer a child.” Minaj is just one of the few women who aren’t ready for children. Unlike her, though, several women in India, and across the world, don’t have access to the same kind of healthcare and agency to make their own decisions.
On September 29, 2021, the Supreme Court of India asserted a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy. This decision by India’s topmost court coincided with International Safe Abortion Day. “Abortions have already been legal in India for over half a century now, as per the MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) Act of 1971,” says lawyer and activist Shraddha Supraja. “However, the scope of the Act was restricted to married women, divorcees, widows, minors, survivors of sexual assault, or mentally unwell women. In 2021, the Act was amended to assert the importance of autonomy and choice that a woman can exercise over her own body, regardless of marital status, and without having to consult a third party.
“Failure of contraceptives is now also a recognised reason to terminate a pregnancy. The time limit of abortions has been raised from 20 weeks to 24 weeks, after appropriate medical consultation, in the case of rape victims, minors, or those who are differently-abled. These are all progressive changes that bode well for women, who can choose to move forward with a pregnancy or terminate it, without any legal hassle.”
Among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030 are the sexual and reproductive rights of women. These factor in both human rights and decision-making, as well as health. The goals are in place to improve the lives of citizens across the world with a plan of action for ‘people, planet and prosperity’. Reproductive rights being a part of these SDGs ensures that women have access to education and healthcare. We are then one step closer towards gender equality and reproductive justice.
According to the United Nations Fund for Population (UNFPA)’s 2022 State of the World Population Report, nearly half of all pregnancies in the world are accidental. In India, the 2019-21 National Family and Health Survey revealed that the unmet need for family planning amounts to 9.4 per cent.
“In India, many reproductive healthcare clinics do not provide safe abortions, which means you have to seek one that does,” says gynaecologist Gehna Iqbal. “Reproductive health is an important part of a woman’s life and in order to keep herself healthy, she needs to have access to abortions in a safe way. If she doesn’t, there are two things that could happen. One, she goes through with a pregnancy she doesn’t want or isn’t ready for. This eventually takes a physical and emotional toll on her health. Two, she uses unsafe methods, which can be life-threatening. There are still social and religious stigmas attached to abortions, which is why women hesitate to go through the right medical channels for help. From their end, it is important for healthcare practitioners to treat women coming in for abortions with less judgement and more sensitivity.”
A study published by the University of Oxford, in association with researchers from India, revealed that of 1.8 million women in nine of India’s most populated states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Assam), 67 per cent opted for unsafe abortions. Of this, women between 15-19 were most vulnerable, especially those in rural areas where healthcare is often inaccessible. Other factors include social class, lack of education, prohibitive cost factors and, in some cases, even preference for a male child.
“Abortion on the grounds of sex discrimination is not permissible and this, in fact, only highlights the gender inequalities that exist in our society,” says Dr Iqbal. “In most of these cases though, women who seek to terminate a pregnancy are usually instigated – even supported – by their families. This shouldn’t be confused with women exercising bodily autonomy at any cost. Sex determination is a crime as per the POCSO Act and the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT).”
Although abortions are legally recognised and, in principle, every woman should have safe access to them, the social stigma attached to the procedure is high. In India, motherhood is glorified and the idea that a married woman may want to terminate her pregnancy for no reason other than her own free will is often met with criticism. On the other hand, unmarried women encounter disapproval because abortion is linked to premarital sex, which is still frowned upon by many sections of society.
It isn’t just society; doctors and hospitals are also sometimes guilty of perpetuating these stigmas. Those trained and skilled in medical fields often do not necessarily possess a worldview that looks at gender equality and reproductive rights in the correct context. Some even offer moral advice, citing that abortion of a foetus is a crime. Other barriers to abortion include cost considerations. Women may simply not be able to afford the procedure unless it is normalised and made affordable. Early detection and termination – up to 12 weeks – can also simplify the process with a pill, as per regulations by the World Health Organization (WHO).
These barriers may exist, but there’s no denying that the legal framework has brought us one step closer to empowering women in their quest for reproductive and sexual rights, especially when compared to countries like the United States and Venezuela. However, there’s work to be done. In the words of Meghan Markle after the infamous overturning of the Roe vs Wade judgement, “Wherever we are, we can make it clear that reproductive freedom is a fundamental right like freedom of speech."