Based on simple logic, since Pro-Life and Pro-Choice parties contradict each other, failure of one party should mean an automatic victory for the other. But, when you super impose these ideologies on an Indian society with all its vagaries we uncover a moral and ethical malady, its toll on its people and no winners!
And No, I am not promoting one or the other … and hopefully by the end of the blog that is not what you are trying to figure out either.
What would the fate of Pro-Life Party be in India?
To answer this question we would need to know the general disposition of Indians towards abortion. And the answer to this question is that most Indians don’t suffer from qualms of conscience or pangs of guilt when they talk about or even practice abortion. And the reaction of the rest who are not directly involved in an abortion is Indifferent at best. Abortion in India does not raise the same Moral, Religious, Social and ethical questions that it does in America, it is just a practical tool and it only serves a practical purpose. Understanding and contrasting this practical purpose is what brings us closer to the real truth.
As a practical tool, in India, abortion serves the devious purpose of Sex-selective births. In a nation where families prefer boys, latest technology of ultra sound and other medical advances are used to figure out the sex of the fetus and thereby in making a decision to abort or keep the baby. At the outset we may be tempted to assume that the profile of someone who would opt for such a wretched practice would be one of little to no education and economic resources thereby forced to long for a son to get them out of their misery. But, on closer observation it will be clear that we couldn’t be farther from the truth as can be seen in the below news article …
India’s increasing wealth and improving literacy are apparently contributing to a national crisis of “missing girls,” with the number of sex-selective abortions up sharply among more affluent, educated families during the past two decades, according to a new study. The study found the problem of sex-selective abortions of girls has spread steadily across India after once being confined largely to a handful of conservative northern states. Researchers also found that women from higher-income, better-educated families were far more likely than poorer women to abort a girl, especially during a second pregnancy if the firstborn was a girl.
For more information please visit the link: Abortions Aimed at Girls Rise in India
So in general Indians are not anti-abortion so there is no way a Pro-Life party idea can flourish or even take root in India.
Now for the question as to why the failure of the Pro-Life party doesn’t give an automatic victory for the Pro-Choice party?
And the answer has to do with the question of choice. Who, In an abortion-friendly if not neutral India has this choice to request for and undergo abortion? And the answer is everyone else but the girl that is pregnant. So though at the outset it seems like a country where Pro-Choice party will win, in reality all they will get is stiff opposition ’cause Pro-Choice party promotes and fights for the right of the woman to decide for herself if she wants to keep the baby or not, While Indians want that right for the in-laws. Just to show the severity here is a case where the daughter-in-law was almost killed because she gave birth to a second girl child.
The birth of Rekha’s second daughter should have been one of the happiest days of her life. Instead, she lay on the bed of her home on the outskirts of Delhi, the newborn child on the floor, screaming in terror as her mother-in-law poured paraffin over her. This was her punishment, the older woman said, preparing to strike a match: Rekha had failed again to deliver a son and it would be better for everyone if she were dead.
For more information please visit the link: Where a baby girl is a mother’s awful shame
So in summary Indians have no qualms about abortion nor do they want to relinquish the right to have their daughters-in-law forced into an abortion, so neither the Pro-Life party nor the Pro-Choice party have a future in India!
Prominent factors that contribute for this sad state of affairs are:
- Religion which rather than raise moral and ethical concerns lends its support for this practice by deeming its womenfolk as no better than the Sudras (the lowest caste) and therefore dispensable.
- Arranged marriage and Dowry system that place undue burden on the parents of a girl child to get them married and also support the couple after that
- Gender Discrimination in all aspects of life, social, economic, political to list a few.
Each of the above factors work in tandem with the others and make the Indian society what it is today. Due to their vast nature I won’t be able to expand upon them in this post, but will cover them in various posts that I plan on writing and let the readers visualize the intricate maze that it builds.
Hoping for a socially progressive India,
Sidd Valicharla
P.S. Here is something disturbing that happens in our midst, here, in the land of the Free and the home of the Brave!
A recently published UCSF study illuminates a startling trend: Indian immigrant women are using reproductive technologies and liberal abortion policies in the United States to abort female fetuses, acting on cultural pressure from their family to bear only sons. Of the 65 immigrant women in California, New Jersey, and New York, 40 percent had terminated prior pregnancies when carrying a female; 89 percent who found out they were carrying a girl during the interview period had an abortion. The women came from all economic and educational backgrounds: Eight were high school graduates, 12 were college grads, and 15 had advanced degrees in medicine, law, business, nursing, or scientific research.
For a full report: Indian Immigrants Get Sex-Selection Abortions
i like it
Thanks. Please do forward the same to others who you may think might be interested in these topics.
I like this website it’s a master piece! Glad I discovered this on google.
I remember being in my mother’s womb. The amazing life I remember inspires and motivates me to this day (and I am 59 years old). I have written a book (People Of The Womb) recreating that pre-natal experience of life, as it would occur to a child in the womb, based on what I remember of the experience. To the best of my knowledge this is the only book written by someone who can remember that experience of life. I acknowledge the amazing work that your organization has undertaken for the unborn. My personal stand in this matter is to give the unborn a face; a tangible and undeniable expression of the richness of their lives for us all to see. To view a sample of the book, or to purchase a copy, go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/207391 or follow this link peopleofthewomb.com
Thank you for the gift of your listening.
Richard Blinn
peopleofthewomb.com
Wonderful !! Proud to be an INDIAN !!!
Shame on india for this,and more shame on the fact that these women commiting an abortion were living in USA and had all the means to denie to do such thing.they were educated women with the posibility of refuse to the preassure of in laws.and the men,well,they re sick.the most pathetic of all this is that many indians consider mini skirts as inmoral and would judge severely women who dress that way ,but they show indiference and acceptance to the murder of an unborn baby.
I don’t think this article tells the full story. While the writer is making it seem as if Indians are morally indifferent to abortion, this article only makes the point that the procedure is acceptable in cases of gender. But what about other cases in which abortion is requested (such as if a woman is pregnant out of wedlock)? After all, according to the Wikipedia article on abortion in India, at the time that abortion law was liberalized, there were fears among the people that legalized abortion would lead to an increase in promiscuity (something that is disapproved of in India). (Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_india#Legal_status). So one can’t come to the conclusion that Indian society is accepting of abortion in every circumstance (which is implied by the statement that Indians are indifferent to abortion)
Dear Alf,
After reading your comment a few times. I am forced to come to the conclusion that you do agree that Indians are OK with an abortion in case of gender. Which seems to me like a 50/50 case, assuming a 50/50 chance of the unborn being Male or female.
And then your statement that legalized Abortion will increase promiscuity is I think a case of putting the Horse before the cart. If promiscuity is already there, then a means for abortion or birth control(whatever option the girl chooses) is needed. However the converse theory, that legalizing abortion increases promiscuity is baseless and can be proven in Indian Society itself. If you wish to contest then please give examples where you know of such promiscuous behavior first hand, and not an account of some friend of a friend who had a cousin about whom they have a hunch of doing something promiscuous because abortion is legalized. Now lets bring the argument to current day, there is plenty of contraception available, so lets say all those who want to engage in promiscuous sex do avail of the same, then the need for an abortion in these promiscuous cases is even less, if not outright unnecessary. So all the abortions that are left to be done involve a valid/legal marriage, and where the unborn is a girl! So yes, Indians have no qualms when it comes to aborting a female fetus.
Do read my posts on Arranged Marriages to see why having a girl child and raising her is a gargantuan task and necessitates this extreme measure for the parents.
And in effect until those hindrances are cleared, no amount of legal or spiritual pressures will help curb this practice of aborting unborn girls.
Thanks.