July 22, 2020.
Aayusha Joshi
Abortion has been an arguable topic for decades. Abortion is the ending of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. It is often referred to as 'termination of pregnancy'. This topic has been debatable since ages, as this term co-relates the argument of both human rights(as in right to life of a fetus) and women's rights( as in control over one's body).
In my opinion, women definitely must have the right to abortion under the prevailing legal condition. It’s their freedom of choice as well as control over their body. Does the right to freedom even count, if women are not even allowed to take decisions of their bodies? Maternity should be a reason for happiness, not a burden instead. Abortion laws and cultural or religious views of abortion are different around the world. Major reasons behind abortion are: domestic violence, inability to afford a child, rape, incest, preference of a child, wish to advance career first, low economic status e.t.c.
We can't have a wrong perception about abortion considering some of the cases where a couple decides aborting a child regardless of its gender or those individuals who randomly involve in sexual relations carelessly for fun. What about those women who are not ready to bear motherhood or those who are being suffered both mentally and physically due to unwanted pregnancy?
A woman is a carrier of her body gets to decide what she wants to do with it, or else the word "choice" should only be limited in the dictionaries and not in reality.
Criminalizing abortion does not stop abortions, rather it makes abortion less safe.
We are known for many death cases of women especially in developing countries because of unsafe abortion practice. Legally or illegally abortions are performed everywhere around the globe. Ages ago, women were compelled to suffer from unwanted pregnancy and risk their life and body from unusual abortion techniques, as abortion was considered illegal. But, when properly done, abortion is taken as one of the safest procedures in medicine.
There exist many families who are weak financially and can hardly manage their daily necessities. Can we expect good care of a child from such a family? Every one of us is known about the present world we live in, it is almost impossible to rear a child with a good education and a nutritious diet having low financial status. While talking about this many of us may argue about the use of contraceptives. But we are all aware of the fact that no contraception has a 100% guarantee.
Abortion laws and its enforcement have fluctuated since various eras. A long term study among US women found about 99% of women felt they made the right decision five years after they had an abortion. The social stigma was a major factor in predicting negative emotions and regret years later. Likewise, in 1996 legalization of abortion in South Africa had made an immediate positive impact on women's health and their freedom.
According to UN reports of World Population Review 2020, Russia is the country with the highest abortion rate (37.4%).
Being no far from the world’s concern regarding this topic, Nepal legalized abortion in March 2002, under the 11th amendment of the Civil Code. Legal services were successfully implemented on December 25, 2003. So, let us know what are the provision made related to abortion in our country;
Chapter 4, “Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act (2075/2018) “ mentions about safe abortion.
15. To perform a safe abortion: A pregnant woman shall have the right to get a safe abortion performed in any of the following circumstances:
(a) Fetus (gestation) up to twelve weeks, with the consent of the pregnant woman,
(b) Fetus (gestation) up to twenty-eight weeks, as per the consent of such woman, after the opinion of the licensed doctor that there may be danger upon the life of the pregnant woman or her physical or mental health, may deteriorate or disabled infant may be born in case the abortion is not performed,
(c) Fetus (gestation) remained due to rape or incest, fetus (gestation) up to twenty-eight weeks with the consent of the pregnant woman,
(d) Fetus (gestation) up to twenty-eight weeks with the consent of the woman who is suffering from H.I.V. or other incurable diseases of such nature,
(e) Fetus (gestation) up to twenty-eight weeks with the consent of the woman, as per the opinion of the health worker involved in the treatment that damage may occur in the womb due to defects occurred in the fetus (gestation), or that there is such defect in the fetus of the womb that it cannot live even after the birth, that there is the condition of disability in the fetus (gestation) due to genetic defect or any other cause.
Abortion causes less harm to society than unwanted, unplanned children. Let’s just imagine how miserable the condition would be for a mother to give birth to her baby before she is even ready. Will she be able to face the consequences? Do you think that an innocent child will get proper affection and care?
Abortion is one of the most controversial topics hence, there always arises a question against this argument; Is abortion morally wrong? There is always a different perspective to look up to things. If the act of aborting an unwanted child is considered wrong morally, how can we accept giving birth to a child against the mother’s will to be correct? Abortion done within 12 weeks with the consent of women and up to 28 weeks under given circumstances can’t be considered wrong as this provision is also mentioned in the laws.
Public opinions are polarized; they have strong feelings for or against this subject. There is a never-ending debate over moral, ethical, and legal issues of abortion. Supporters and critics of abortion will argue over their ideas either normalizing it or regarding it as a sin. In actuality, women can’t call herself free if she is restricted from making her own life decisions.
So women's right to abort must be respected by every individual. She should be given full love and support rather than cruel judgments.
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