Graphic

Addressing Abortion Stigma ...

Abortion

READ MORE

Addressing Abortion Stigma for Better Advocacy

This set of thought provoking illustrations created by Smish Designs address societal stigma around abortion and advocate for access to reproductive rights. They can be utilised to challenge abortion stigma and create conversation around abortion from a rights-based perspective.

 

Video Player

 

Article

TYPF’s Statement on The MTP...

Abortion

READ MORE

TYPF’s Statement on The MTP (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Rajya Sabha Passes The MTP (Amendment) Bill, 2020
But Have We Made Considerable Progress?

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020, introduced by the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 16, 2021. The Bill is primarily aimed at increasing1 the upper limit for undergoing abortions in India. Prior to this, abortion was legally allowed within 20 weeks of gestation. With the passing of the Bill, abortion-seekers who come under the purview of ‘vulnerable women’ — either with ‘foetal abnormalities’ (‘anomalies’ being the non-discriminatory terminology) or with a pregnancy caused due to sexual violence — can now opt for an abortion between 20-24 weeks, under the authorisation of two doctors. This Bill was earlier passed in the Lok Sabha a year ago on 17 March 2020. Despite evidence-based inputs proposed by various civil society organisations as well as other key stakeholders including Members of Parliament, no changes were made to the Bill since the judgement passed a year ago. Like the Lok Sabha debate, any changes or provision of sending to a select committee weren’t considered in the Rajya Sabha debate either.

The Safe Abortion for Everyone (SAFE) programme at The YP Foundation (TYPF) supports the passing of the Bill and believes that this is a welcome change for ensuring better abortion services for some women in India. The (conditional) increase in the gestational limit for an abortion would certainly help women who fall under the ‘vulnerable’ category defined by the MTP rules. While earlier abortion seekers had to receive an authorisation from two doctors, the 2020 Bill requires the approval of only one doctor up to 20 weeks of gestation and would only require two doctors for abortions carried out between 20-24 weeks. Furthermore, the Bill has also replaced the word ‘married woman and her husband’ with the phrase ‘women and her partner’ which for the first time acknowledges the abortion needs of unmarried women, although they are2 still required to specify relational grouds while seeking an abortion.

As pointed out by various researchers and abortion advocacy groups, the Bill has several issues that hinder access to safe abortion for all and has a strong scope for further improvements.

Amendments made to Section 3 of the MTP Act, 1971 now allow ‘special categories of women’ defined by the MTP rules to opt for abortion services between 20-24 weeks, under the authorisation of two doctors. For abortions beyond 24 weeks, a medical board comprising of a gynaecologist, a paediatrician, a radiologist, a sonologist, and other members will be set up to deliberate on the feasibility of the abortion. Both these clauses over-medicalise and pathologise abortion by centering the doctors’/medical board’s opinions, rather3 than prioritising the bodily and decisional autonomy of the pregnant person. Assembling these medical boards might become an access barrier to timely abortion services due to the lack of medical professionals in the country, especially in rural settings.

It is also important to note that the language used in the Bill is exclusionary and patronising towards abortion seekers. Phrases like ‘pregnant women’ rather than ‘pregnant persons’ and ‘vulnerable women’ ostracise transgender, intersex, gender diverse, and nonbinary people from seeking abortion services, create a paternalistic hierarchy of victimhood, and offer no provisions for women who do not have medical complications or a history of sexual violence. The Bill further assures privacy and confidentiality of identity of the pregnant women, the defiance of which caused by any individual shall be punishable by law. However, the same Bill allows disclosure of the pregnant person’s identity to a person ‘authorised by law’ which violates the right to privacy and confidentiality of the abortion seeker.

The above-mentioned issues compromise on an intersectional, feminist, and rights-based reproductive justice framework on the legal provisions of abortion in India. Access to timely and comprehensive abortion healthcare and services must be recognised as a basic human right. But the MTP (Amendment) Bill, 2020 continues to perpetuate ableist and heteropatriarchal ideas around abortion.

The YP Foundation believes that centralising narratives and experiences of people who are directly affected by the law can help make the available abortion services more inclusive, especially for abortion seekers from marginalised communities in India. We also believe that the absolute right to terminate one’s pregnancy must be of the abortion seeker, rather than it being a decision of third-party authorisation. TYPF also insists that the government address the conflation with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act,4 2012 which is in direct conflict with the confidentiality clause of the MTP Act as survivors of sexual violence who are minors require guardianship through the process, which might in turn deter them from openly seeking abortion services. Lastly, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare must try to mitigate bureaucratic delays in accessing abortion services and work towards improving public health infrastructure both in rural as well as urban areas. Such a model can be formulated by incorporating the propositions made by feminist organisations and abortion advocacy groups which are directly associated to, or work with, key stakeholders within the reproductive healthcare sector.

1 Saxena, A. (2021). Parliament Passes Bill To Increase Upper Limit For Legal Abortions. Retrieved from https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/parliament-passes-bill-to-increase-u...

2 Alka Barua, Anubha Rastogi, V. Deepa, Dipika Jain, Manisha Gupte, Rupsa Mallik & Suchitra Dalvie (2020). The MTP 2020 Amendment Bill: Anti-rights Subjectivity, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 28:1, 1795447, DOI: 10.1080/26410397.2020.1795447

3 Sajiv, P. (2021). Medical Boards under MTP Bill will make Abortion Inaccessible. Retrieved from https://www.theleaflet.in/medical-boards-under-mtp-bill-will-make-aborti...

4 Dr. Pyne, S. Dr. Nagpal, A. Dr. Barua, A. (2020). Lok Sabha Debate on MTP (Amendment) Bill 2020. Retrieved from https://safeabortion889409100.wordpress.com/2020/03/27/lok-sabha-debate-...

Publication

Myths and Misconceptions ar...

Abortion

READ MORE

Myths and Misconceptions around Abortion in India

Fifty years into enacting the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971, abortion continues to be a contested topic in India. The several myths and misconception around abortion reinforce the stigma that further poses a barrier for pregnant persons in accessing safe and comprehensive abortion services. While there are no exclusive studies conducted on such myths and misconceptions, however, research on abortion providers, unmarried and married abortion seekers in urban and rural spaces have documented statements reflecting them. This document consolidates such statements, and also provides scientific responses against them.

Website

SAFE Resource Hub

Abortion

READ MORE

SAFE Resource Hub

Access

The SAFE Resource Hub is a one-stop-destination for all your abortion related information needs! Created by The YP Foundation, the aim of the Resource Hub to demystify abortion by providing essential and contextual information, deconstruct myths and misconceptions, and suggest approaches to position abortion in an evidence and rights-based manner.

The hub can be explored through the lens of various characters that represent the diversity of abortion seekers and abortion advocates. We believe that an intersectional approach to abortion is essential in creating an engaging, relatable, and safe space that enables our audiences to gain a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of abortion issues.

We created this hub based on literature reviews and contextual exploratory research, drawing from a wide array of existing resources. Making an accessible online repository of this nature is essential as it serves as an important resource in the advocacy training and youth-led actions as a ready reckoner to consult as well as disseminate. We hope that this increases understanding of abortion issues for a wide range of important stakeholders and serves as a relevant repository for abortion advocates in India.

Publication

Assessing Youth-Friendlines...

Abortion

READ MORE

Assessing Youth-Friendliness of Abortion Services

Although abortion is largely legalised in India through the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP) 1971, it continues to be underpinned by religious, moral, ethical and socio-cultural concerns. Fear of judgement from service providers, ambiguities of medico-legal restrictions, lack of privacy and confidentiality in health facilities can, however influence young abortion seekers to opt for unsafe methods of abortion. This report aims to analyse the evidence on the status of abortion services for young people generated by ten fellows from seven states in India.

Publication

Abortion Stigma in Delhi NCR

Abortion

READ MORE

Abortion Stigma in Delhi NCR

While a vast amount of research on understanding abortion stigma has been conducted globally, there is limited existing work on stigma in the Indian context. A majority of current research in India continues to focus on understanding the laws, policies, and access to abortion services. But abortions stigma leads to discrimination against women in every sphere of their lives, including socio-economic, political and even accessing medical spaces and services.

The ‘Abortion Stigma in Delhi NCR’ study was conducted to address this gap and explored abortion stigma through a socio-cultural lens. This study was a qualitative exploratory study to understand the perception of abortion stigma particularly among young people in Delhi NCR. The research aims to understand young peoples’ perception regarding abortion, their awareness of abortion related services and laws, prevalent myths and misconceptions, and sources of stigma around abortion.

Booklet
Handbook

Towards Choice Autonomy and...

Abortion

READ MORE

Towards Choice Autonomy and Rights: An Action Agenda for Abortion Rights

The Guide for Safe Abortion Rights has been developed through a rights-based lens, which can be used by abortion advocates to hold on ground and digital campaigns. It is designed to  act as a step by step guide for young advocates to generate awareness on the legal and medical aspects of abortion in India by foregrounding bodily autonomy and tackling abortion stigma. The guide also comprehensively covers the know-how for youth advocates to conduct media and policy engagement at their respective state/district levels. 

The guide was translated into three regional languages – Assamese, Hindi, and Malayalam to increase its accessibility among the youth advocates across the regions in which TYPF operates. The toolkit will be useful for designing, disseminating and participating in campaigns and to advance rights based  messaging through printed information, education and communication (IEC) materials such as leaflets, posters and information sheets.  This guide can be referred  for developing thematic press releases, holding dialogues with peers and collectives, social media engagement, generating support and allyship from service providers and for seeking accountability from different stakeholders who can ensure stigma free access to abortion care.

Publication

Assessing Youth Friendlines...

Abortion

READ MORE

Assessing Youth Friendliness of Abortion Services- Audit Report

The negligence of abortion service delivery and low quality of the service is a major challenge for accessing abortion in India. Many service providers deny abortion service due to stigma, lack of knowledge and personal morality and beliefs. ‘Accessing Youth Friendliness of Abortion Services’ is an analysis of youth-led audits of 48 abortion facilities across 2 states of India conducted at 2023 by SAFE youth leaders as part of the program. The analysis is prepared based on the data collected by 8 youth leaders using mystery client methodology in Assam and Kerala.

Publication

Flipping the Narrative: Med...

Abortion

READ MORE

Flipping the Narrative: Media Guide for Abortion Reporting Abortion

In India, access to safe and legal abortion is a critical aspect of reproductive rights. However, even with relatively progressive laws and rulings in place, abortion-seeking remains debatable and presents itself in the form of a moral and ethical dilemma. The taboos, stigmas, and myths that have been associated with abortion remain rampant and get exacerbated when mass media, a powerful and reliable source of information, is not intentional about covering the topics of abortion from the lens of choice, and bodily autonomy.

With this context, The YP Foundation (TYPF) in collaboration with Feminism in India (FII) has developed ‘Flipping the Narrative: Media Guide for Abortion Reporting,’ for journalists to provide them with a handy manual on how to report and cover abortion and its intersecting topics, sensitively. This guide can also be used and put into practice by abortion advocates, activists, and allies while developing media products on abortion.

safe abortion for everyone

Active Programme

Abortion

READ MORE

safe abortion for everyone

Pages