In most of today’s world a woman’s body is not her own

Against this background, let’s look at the US, where women are now facing an “absolute attack” on their reproductive rights, as many of the country’s states race to enact restrictive abortion laws. In late 2021, the nation’s Supreme Court (SC) is set to hear arguments on the legality of the Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Mississippi’s petition to appeal a circuit-court decision that overruled its law was accepted only after the death of abortion rights advocate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. At this juncture, many pro-choice activists are apprehensive about the prospect of the SC’s current conservative majority supporting the legitimacy of the Mississippi law, or perhaps even going so far as to reverse the landmark 1973 ruling. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide and declared that “the decision to continue a pregnancy or to perform an abortion, which affects a person’s body, health, family, and future, again, belongs to the individual, the government.” Why not”. In his brief to the SC, Mississippi’s attorney general argued for quashing the Roe v. Wade decision, and a subsequent 1992 decision upheld it, calling both a “grossly incorrect… non-principle decision … who have poisoned the national discourse, and plagued the law”, and asked state legislatures to be given more power to “prohibit abortion”. In this context, Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, an advocacy group that is among those challenging the Mississippi law, expressed deep concern that “if Roe falls, the impact will be immediate and far-reaching, beyond Mississippi, As half of the states in the country set out to ban abortion altogether…endangering the lives of women of child-bearing age who have never known a world in which they do not have this basic right “Such a situation would be terrible. For many women… [especially those] Those who are young, unmarried, abused, cannot have children… [and have] There’s no place to go,” said a doctor at the Women’s Health Organization in Jackson, the only functioning abortion clinic in Mississippi (as of June 30, 2021), as was cited by a media story. Abortion demands in that state Nearly three-quarters of the women who do sex work are African-American, making up about 38% of its population, according to federal figures as of the end of 2020.

The issue of abortion is one of the most divisive issues in America, and 12 of its states, including Mississippi, have passed “trigger” laws with stringent abortion restrictions that would go into effect on or shortly after the 1973 Roe ruling. was cancelled. Meanwhile, since September, Texas has enacted a law that bans abortions at six weeks, called the “heartbeat abortion ban” that is already in force in several states. The Texas law has been challenged by the US Department of Justice in a federal court. The US House of Representatives has also introduced a bill called the Women’s Health Protection Act to establish a statutory authority to receive abortion care and codify the Roe v. Wade decisions. But few people expect it to be passed in the Senate.

Globally, there are differing views on the issue of abortion. Some hold the view that it is a pregnant woman’s absolute choice, while many others argue that it is the state’s obligation to protect life, and that it must therefore protect each fetus.

In at least 26 countries, abortion is not allowed under any circumstances, and the laws of 39 countries allow abortion only if the woman’s life is at risk. In 56 countries, abortion is permitted on health or medical grounds, while in 67, it is permitted upon request for different gestational periods, the most common being 12 weeks. Apart from health, some countries, including India, take into account the socio-economic conditions of a woman and allow abortion under a wide range of circumstances.

In the case of India, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021 has already come into force. The World Health Organization praised the amended law, saying it expanded popular access to safe and legal abortion services, which would help the country curb preventable maternal mortality. Several women’s rights groups also commended it for stigmatizing pregnancy outside marriage and extending the time limit under specified circumstances.

Nevertheless, some observers also expressed dismay that India’s Act reaffirmed the dominant stereotype that motherhood is the norm and abortion is an exception, and thus failed to ensure that choice is one of the free choices. There have been several pioneering Supreme Court judgments in India that upheld the right to abortion as part of one’s personal liberty (Mrs X v Union of India, 2017) and right to privacy (KS Puttaswamy v Union of India, 2017). has kept. )

“The denial of bodily autonomy is a violation of fundamental human rights, it amounts to nothing less than the destruction of the soul, and must be stopped,” the UNPFA executive director said in a release this year’s population report. Should countries around the world continue to deny half humanity’s claim to their bodily rights and the right to live with dignity?

Archana Dutta is the former Director General of Doordarshan and All India Radio