Why abortions are an informed choice for many
Abortion is a very common aspect of women’s health care but there is still a lot of shame, stigma and judgment associated with it that makes it difficult for many women to talk about it without any fear.
Abortion is a topic that generates strong feelings with people either in favour of it or against it. Abortion stigma directly attacks a woman’s right to choose. It is important to understand and look at abortion from the perspective of a woman’s right to her own body. However, in many parts of the world, there is still an internalized shame based message in the society that makes women feel guilty about the choice of abortion they may have made.
The fear, shame and stigma often results in women trying to go for unsafe abortion practices which can be life threatening. Whatever one may have heard, from castor oil, to boiling hot baths to super-high doses of vitamin C, they can be very harmful to a woman’s health. The only way to have an abortion is either medically or surgically and one should be discussing all available and safe options with a medical professional. Unsafe and illegal abortions put women at much higher health risks by having to get black-market abortions. These back-street abortions put women’s lives at risk, as there is no medical supervision present. A recent report estimated that as many as 10 million women have illegal abortion in India putting their health and lives at serious risk.
A lot of people also feel that young, irresponsible women have abortions which is not true. It is important to know that no birth control method is 100 percent effective. In such a scenario, to avoid an unintended pregnancy, going for safe and legal abortion should be a right for every woman in the world.
In India, many believe that in order for a woman to have an abortion, she must have the permission of her parents or husband. But this is absolutely false — if you are an adult woman, you don’t legally need anyone’s permission. Unfortunately, married women are routinely asked for their husband’s permission and unmarried women are routinely asked for their parents’ permission — even though such a consent is not required by law in india. Any woman can have an abortion in India under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971). However, the law comes with a set of conditions such as the stipulation around the length of pregnancy.
