{"id":4050,"date":"2020-01-30T18:32:39","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T13:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/?p=4050"},"modified":"2020-01-30T18:32:39","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T13:02:39","slug":"the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"The more things change, the more they stay the same."},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4051\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same\/abortionmerahaq-4\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4.png\" data-orig-size=\"696,696\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"AbortionMeraHaq-4\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4-300x300.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4.png\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4051 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4-300x300.png\" alt=\"AbortionMeraHaq-4\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4-600x600.png 600w, https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/AbortionMeraHaq-4.png 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many of us greeted the news with cautious optimism when we heard that yesterday the\u00a0Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister had approved the Medical Termination of\u00a0Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act,\u00a01971. The Bill will be introduced in the ensuing session of the Parliament.\u00a0But on reading the details of the amendments proposed one is forced to wonder if this is\u00a0just fussing around over minor details while continuing to ignore the larger issues of\u00a0women\u2019s autonomy and agency?<\/p>\n<p>For these amendments to truly bring about wide ranging change we must remember one\u00a0crucial thing about true change\u2014it happens only with a shift in power.\u00a0Until the archaic patriarchal notions of the need to criminalize various sexual and\u00a0reproductive aspects of our lives (such as Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code) are done\u00a0away with, any legislation like the MTP Act which is mainly meant to protect the doctors and\u00a0not the women involved, is not likely to result in genuine change.\u00a0For example, on closer review of the features of the proposed amendments that have been\u00a0reported in the government press release there are certain areas of concern that we need<br \/>\nto address:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 is for expanding\u00a0access of women to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic,\u00a0humanitarian or social grounds. The proposed amendments include substitution of\u00a0certain sub-sections, insertion of certain new clauses under some sections in the\u00a0existing Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, with a view to increase upper\u00a0gestation limit for termination of pregnancy under certain conditions and to\u00a0strengthen access to comprehensive abortion care, under strict conditions, without\u00a0compromising service and quality of safe abortion.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The proposed increase in gestational age will ensure dignity, autonomy, confidentiality and justice for women who need to terminate pregnancy.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>How do we define humanitarian and social grounds? Who gets to decide that?<\/p>\n<p>If that were truly the intent of the proposed amendments to expand access of women to\u00a0safe abortion services then the Bombay High Court as well as the Supreme Court Bench that\u00a0deliberated on the Right to Privacy have already articulated a far broader interpretation:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cRecognising a woman\u2019s prerogative to make decisions about her health and body, the\u00a0<\/em><em>bench ruled that \u201cthere is no doubt that a woman\u2019s right to make reproductive choices is\u00a0<\/em><em>also a dimension of \u2018personal liberty\u2019 as guaranteed under Article 21. It is important to\u00a0<\/em><em>recognise that reproductive choices can be exercised to procreate as well as to abstain from\u00a0<\/em><em>procreating.\u201d The judgment further states that \u201ca woman\u2019s freedom of choice whether to\u00a0<\/em><em>bear a child or abort her pregnancy are areas which fall in the realm of privacy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/opinion\/abortion-it-s-every-woman-s-right-to- choose\/story-52qv723N3yXESybsvyHR0J.html\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In a suo motu PIL concerning the deplorable condition of a female prison inmate, the\u00a0Bombay High Court categorically stated in 2016 that a \u201cwoman alone should have the right\u00a0to control her body, fertility and motherhood choices.\u201d The high court also addressed the\u00a0status of the legitimate state interest in protecting \u201cpotential life.\u201d It stated that since\u00a0pregnancy takes place within a woman\u2019s body and profoundly affects her health, mental\u00a0well-being and life, an unborn foetus cannot be put on a higher pedestal than the rights of\u00a0a living woman.\u201d\u00a0Thus, the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court have both emphasised women\u2019s\u00a0autonomy to take informed decision regarding their own bodies.<br \/>\nThe phrasing <strong>\u201cto strengthen access to comprehensive abortion care, under strict\u00a0<\/strong><strong>conditions\u201d<\/strong> hints at the fact that the underlying attitude is that abortions need to be\u00a0controlled somehow. One has to question what makes an abortion such a different concern\u00a0compared to say neurosurgery or cardiac surgery? There are laws which already provide for\u00a0criminal punishments for grievous injury which would encompass any such surgery without\u00a0consent or done with negligence or criminal intent.<br \/>\nWhy can those similar laws not apply to abortions also and the decision of providing the\u00a0service be left to the person who is pregnant and their doctor? If we can trust doctors with\u00a0the training to do brain surgery, which can have the potential for irreversible damage while\u00a0an abortion is the removal of a feus that one could potential make again or adopt a child or\u00a0become a parent through surrogacy then why is an abortion law needed when a<br \/>\nneurosurgery law isn\u2019t?<\/p>\n<p>How come the woman\u2019s fetus and the choices she makes about continuing to host it inside<br \/>\nher body or not warrant an Act of parliament is the question we need to ask?<br \/>\nAnd if we believe that somehow it does, then we need to ask is this amended MTP Act is\u00a0something that is going to protect a woman\u2019s right to control her body and her life?\u00a0If not then, well, the more things change the more they remain the same!\u00a0What we would need from a good law is that it should ensure no women is turned away or\u00a0forced into an unsafe abortion or into continuing a pregnancy that is unwanted.\u00a0These current proposed amendments do not address that nor do they in any way hold the\u00a0government and the public health sector facilities accountable for ensuring any of this.\u00a0They do not provide for better access to Medical Abortion Pills, or for making sure that all\u00a0government hospitals are providing the full range of abortion services including second\u00a0trimester abortions and without any coercion for contraception.<\/p>\n<p>The reason why women end up going to the informal or formal private sector is because of\u00a0the lack of sensitive and confidential good quality services in the public sector combined\u00a0with the coercion for contraception. The amendments would be truly powerful if they could\u00a0address that also.<br \/>\nWe already have a rather large collection of laws meant to \u2018empower\u2019 and \u2018protect\u2019 women\u00a0from a vast range on injustices and inequalities, whether they actually result in any change\u00a0in women\u2019s lived realities or not. This includes the Female Infanticide Prevention Act, Dowry\u00a0Prohibition Act, Prohibition of Child Marriage, Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, Maternity Benefits Act among others.<\/p>\n<p>The amendments also do not make any mention of the clause allowing failure of\u00a0contraception as a valid reason for any woman, married or unmarried.<br \/>\nGiven that the Indian Penal Code, absorbed mostly un-changed from the British penal Code\u00a0of 1860, still criminalizes miscarriage, perhaps we need to look at first de-criminalizing it\u00a0from there and then creating a law which protects women\u2019s right to their body by providing\u00a0and ensuring that they have access to free and good quality safe abortion services (surgical\u00a0and medical) at all public health sector facilities, without any coercion for contraception.<\/p>\n<p>That is the law we really need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many of us greeted the news with cautious optimism when we heard that yesterday the\u00a0Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister had approved the Medical Termination of\u00a0Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act,\u00a01971. The Bill will be introduced in the ensuing session of the Parliament.\u00a0But on reading the details of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":4097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[276,310,270,284,413,283,297,298],"tags":[13,476,341,100,479],"class_list":["post-4050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-access-and-barriers","category-access-for-young-people","category-advocacy","category-feminism-vaw-srhr","category-marginalized-women-access-and-barriers","category-the-pro-choice-debates","category-blogs-on-services-providers-hotlines","category-blogs-on-abortion-stigma-and-other-social-barriers","tag-abortion","tag-abortion-in-india","tag-abortion-law","tag-barriers-of-safe-abortion","tag-mtp-act-india"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/blog-featured-image-logo.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3O7nG-13k","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4050"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4056,"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4050\/revisions\/4056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asap-asia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}