Checking the blind spots in India’s abortion ruling

17 December 2022
Authors: Niharika Rustagi and Kaushambi Bagchi, NUS

Sexual and reproductive health rights are crucial to women’s bodily autonomy and empowerment. But women from many countries are not guaranteed these fundamental rights. Landmark rulings in several countries have paved the way for access to abortion services, maternal healthcare and assisted reproduction, including in countries with restrictive reproductive rights laws.

In India, legal reforms related to reproductive rights have been in progress for some time. In 2021, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971, which had previously restricted safe and legal abortions to married women, was amended to include unmarried women. On 29 September 2022, the Supreme Court of India passed a judgement that guaranteed all women, regardless of their marital status, the right to undergo abortions up to 24 weeks into their pregnancy up from 21 weeks.

Continued: https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/12/17/checking-the-blind-spots-in-indias-abortion-ruling/

Is abortion legal in China, how common is it and why is it controversial?

Mimi Lau
19 Jun, 2022

The US Supreme Court is expected to overturn the country’s landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, which guaranteed women’s right to abortion nationwide despite widespread protests, according to a draft of a majority opinion that was leaked last month.

In China – which has one of the world’s highest recorded abortion rates – women’s reproductive rights have also historically been a contentious issue, but are seen through a very different cultural lens.

Continued: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3182106/abortion-legal-china-how-common-it-and-why-it-controversial

19.06.2022

sex selection abortion

sex selective abortions

How Racist Sex-Selective Abortion Bans in US Wrongfully Target Asian Americans

Appropriating the gender equality rhetoric, supporters of such bills portray the issue to be about women’s rights.

SAVITA PATEL
28 May 2022

Eleven states in USA have active abortion bans for reason of sex selection. Since 2009, almost half of the US state legislatures have considered bills to block sex-selective abortion.

In 2012 anti-sex-selective legislation was the second most proposed anti-abortion prohibition in the US.

Continued: https://www.thequint.com/us-nri-news/racist-sex-selective-abortion-bans-in-us-wrongfully-target-asian-americans

India’s abortion law still lacks a rights-based approach, gynecologist says

India's abortion law is progressive, but it is also problematic, says Dr. Suchitra Dalvie, a practicing gynecologist in Mumbai, India. The co-founder and coordinator of the Asia Safe Abortion Partnership unpacked the law and recent amendments to it with The World's reporter Chhavi Sachdev.

May 12, 2022
By Chhavi Sachdev

In India, abortion has been legal — within certain confines — for more than 50 years.

India's abortion law is progressive, but it is also problematic, says Dr. Suchitra Dalvie, a practicing gynecologist in Mumbai, India.

Continued: https://theworld.org/stories/2022-05-12/indias-abortion-law-still-lacks-rights-based-approach-gynecologist-says

‘Families want a son at any cost’: the women forced to abort female foetuses in India

Laali and Meenakshi’s unborn daughters are among the country’s 46 million ‘missing’ women and girls over the past 50 years

Yashraj Sharma
Mon 27 Dec 2021

Laali was alone at home when she realised her legs were drenched in blood. The bleeding did not stop for eight hours. As she fell unconscious, the 25-year-old thought she would die alongside the foetus she was losing.

She had been three months pregnant when she was taken for prenatal sex determination. “When I learned it was a girl, I started feeling as though I was suffocating,” she says.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/dec/27/families-want-a-son-at-any-cost-the-women-forced-to-abort-female-foetuses-in-india

Selective abortion in India could lead to 6.8m fewer girls being born by 2030

New study shows preference for a son is highest in north of country with Uttar Pradesh having highest deficit in female births

Amrit Dhillon in New Delhi
Fri 21 Aug 2020

An estimated 6.8 million fewer female births will be recorded across India by 2030 because of the persistent use of selective abortions, researchers estimate.

Academics from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia projected the sex ratio at birth in 29 Indian states and union territories, covering almost the entire population, taking into account each state’s desired sex ratio at birth and the population’s fertility rates.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/aug/21/selective-abortion-in-india-could-lead-to-68m-fewer-girls-being-born-by-2030

21.08.2020

Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act

selective abortion

sex selective abortions

USA – The strictest abortion ban in the nation targets communities of color

Tina Vasquez
Jul 03, 2020

As pro-choice advocates in Louisiana breathe a sigh of relief after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the June Medical Services case last week, Tennessee is gearing up for a fight against one of the most restrictive anti-abortion bills in the country—one that advocates say targets people of color.

Used as a bargaining chip while negotiating the state budget, the bill was passed in the early morning hours of June 19 when the Tennessee Senate made a last-minute deal with the House to pass a six-week abortion ban, which is unconstitutional because it makes it medically and logistically impossible for most people to determine that they are pregnant and arrange for abortion care.

Continued: https://www.ourprism.org/1957853

India – Comprehensive Abortion Care a Far Cry

Comprehensive Abortion Care a Far Cry
As per the national statistics, only 22 percent abortions are carried out in health facilities while 73 percent are medication-based.

Published: 22nd December 2019
By KG Suresh

At a quiz conducted recently for state-level health communicators in Bihar, it was found that some were not aware that abortions were legal in India while some others thought a woman required the consent of her husband or father for aborting her foetus. In fact, some of them were not even aware of the difference between emergency contraception and abortion drugs. This was significant given the fact that Bihar with 1.25 million abortions annually accounted for a sizeable chunk of the 15.6 million abortions annually estimated in the country by Lancet, an international health journal. Neighbouring Uttar Pradesh reported 3.15 million abortions.

As per the national statistics, only 22 per cent abortions are carried out in health facilities while 73 per cent are medication-based. The national average of unsafe abortions stood at 5 per cent, meaning thereby that about 10 women lose their lives daily because of unsafe abortions.

Continued: https://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/voices/2019/dec/22/comprehensive-abortion-care-a-far-cry-2078438.html

India – Woman’s Right to Abort Pregnancy Not an Absolute Right, Centre Tells Supreme Court

Woman's Right to Abort Pregnancy Not an Absolute Right, Centre Tells Supreme Court
The government said unsafe abortions contribute to 8 per cent of maternal mortality in India and continue to be the third largest cause of maternal mortality.

Utkarsh Anand
Updated:December 16, 2019

New Delhi: The central government has submitted in the Supreme Court that a woman's right to abort is not an absolute right.

Seeking dismissal of a PIL that sought complete autonomy for a woman to determine whether or not to continue with her pregnancy, the ministry of health and family welfare referred to the statement of object and reasons of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971.

Continued: https://www.news18.com/news/india/womans-right-to-abort-her-pregnancy-not-an-absolute-right-centre-tells-supreme-court-2425473.html

Nepal – Sex-selective abortion continues unabated

Sex-selective abortion continues unabated

Published: October 14, 2018

Female foeticide has caused the number of male children to go up in Rupandehi.

A study jointly carried out by CIWIN Nepal and District Public Health Office, Rupandehi, shows that sex-selective abortion is widespread even among educated and well-off families in urban areas.

According to Rupandehi’s public health inspector Krishna Pokhrel, when 100 girls were born, the number of male births stood at 130 last year.

Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/sex-selective-abortion-continues-unabated/

14.10.2018