On women’s rights, West takes a backward step, and India shows the way

News: At present, there is a distressing furore on social media and the streets against the near-total bans on abortion in the West.

What are the reasons for India’s forward-looking policy?

About The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021

It allows the abortions up to 24 gestational weeks on grounds of risk to the mother’s life, mental anguish, rape, incest, contraception failure, or the diagnosis of foetal abnormalities.

India’s medical pregnancy termination regime is very generous in nature. It safeguards reproductive autonomy.

India’s constitutional ethos commits to the protection of personal liberty through Article 21. It means abortion or termination of pregnancy is a woman’s prerogative.

It ensures that expectant mothers exercise self-determination in welcoming new life to their homes.

Women’s readiness for and desirability for children decisively shape the life trajectories of mothers, families, and children alike.

It is an established fact that unwanted pregnancies unexpectedly curtail the life choices of parents, especially mothers. It may also limit their mental well-being and personal growth.

Further, children born unwanted may suffer reduced opportunities because parents invest more in the education of wanted children.

The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021

The government has introduced a bill to raise the legal marriageable age for women from 18 years to 21 years, in order to delay pregnancy.

As per the study, adolescent mothers aged 10 to 19 years are prone to higher risks of eclampsia, puerperal endometritis, and systemic infections in comparison to women aged 20 to 24 years.

Further, children born to adolescent mothers face higher risks of low birth weight, preterm delivery, and severe neonatal conditions. This happens because such young mothers are poorly aware of feeding practices and baby care, making them more likely to have stunted or wasted children.

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021,

India has become a lucrative “bio-market” for surrogate mothers. India witnessed the commodification of women and the reduction of their reproductive capacity.

The act has replaced commercial surrogacy with ethical, altruistic surrogacy.

The Act prohibits couples who are not of Indian origin from availing of surrogacy in the country.

It allows only locals with certified, medical reasons necessitating gestational surrogacy to avail of it.

Other Importance Women-Centric Measures

The government policies, under the aegis of Ayushman Bharat- Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) provide a health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per annum for a wide range of packages pertaining to obstetrics and gynecology.

The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) partially compensates wage loss before and after pregnancy

The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyaan (PMSMA) provides free antenatal care to pregnant women every 9th day of the month. It eases the financial burden of pregnant women.

The government is also promoting safe motherhood through institutional deliveries under Janani Suraksha Yojana.

The government also provides quality, respectful care in labour rooms during deliveries under schemes like LaQshya.

The government regards daughters’ role at various points in their lives as mothers, students, valuable employees, and valorous entrepreneurs.

The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign has been launched to ensure that girls are born and nurtured bore fruit.

In addition, Ujjwala and Jal Jeevan Mission wants to provide much-needed respite from the drudgery of collecting fuelwood or water

The Mudra Yojana has provided aspiring women entrepreneurs with loans without collateral. In addition, the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme has advocated for higher subsidies for women.

Achievements

There has been a manifold increase in institutional deliveries, from 79% in NFHS-4 to nearly 89% in NFHS-5.

India has achieved the greater longevity of mothers, as evidenced by the declining Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) from 167 per lakh live births in 2011-13 to 103 per lakh live births as of 2019.

Source: The post is based on an article “On women’s rights, West takes a backward step, and India shows the way” published in the Indian Express on 27^th June 2022.