Olinda D’Cruz
Abortions were legalized in India in April 1972 with a view to control the rising population of India and to bring down the infant mortality rate among the poor masses where girls just above 14 years of age were married and gave birth to a number of children some of whom died of malnutrition.
The government came with a plan to control the population known as the family planning and slogans were coined like ‘Small family is a happy family’ and ‘Hum do hamare do’. The government appeased the masses to go in for sterilizations and vasectomies with gifts like radios and a small amount of cash.
An abortion is a mean and a cruel act but within the legal parameters done by a surgeon of terminating a pregnancy and killing the unborn foetus in the womb of the mother. No religion in the world allows one human being to kill another and that too an unborn foetus.
Abortions are being done in all sections of society in these modern times and across the five continents selectively to get rid of or terminate a pregnancy of a girl child. With the dawn of 1990 came the ultrasound era in India which helped the surgeon to have a clear picture of the position of the foetus in the womb. With further advancement the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique now helps to determine the sex of the unborn foetus.
Many parents with the help of PNDT terminate the pregnancy if it is a girl child. It is a crime and hence governments across the globe have enacted legislations to stop this practice of killing the girl child. In our country the government has enacted legislation banning the practice of terminating a pregnancy if it is a girl child. However, governments find it difficult to locate where the ultrasounds are done and who are the surgeons who terminat the pregnancies.
PNDT is modern technique to help doctors how best care of the mother and the child to be born can be taken during the pregnancy. Unfortunately it is being misused by parents with the help of a surgeon to abort the girl child. This has to be stopped if we consider ourselves human and rational. Even animals do not destroy their own species, they may destroy other species to satisfy their hunger. Every parent before coming to a decision of terminating a girl child, should think there is a hand of divinity behind every creation and treat it as a gift of God.
Leslee Udwins producer and director of India’s Daughter said it is a war against women across the world when she spoke of rape and gender based violence. But why is this carnage of an unborn girl child in India and across the world? When parents learn it is a girl child they should actually shout with joy.
