Pro Life vs Pro choice!

Dr Malvika's OS touches on a very sensitive topic - . MTP or medical termination of pregnancy. This is a very thorny and complex issue, since there are moral, medical, social and religious angles to it apart from the human dilemma.

I think abortion is legal in India so long as the pregnancy does not cross a legally specified timeframe. So, that takes care of the legality of it. I think the Catholic religion prohibits MTP. Maybe Islam does too, although am not too sure of this one. Since Hinduism does not lay down very strict codes of behaviour, I think we can safely assume there is nothing there on this issue. That still leaves us with the moral and medical angles to it.

Of course, by virtue of being the one to bear the child physically, the woman should logically have the greatest say in the matter. However, does this negate the right of the father? Does contributing to the conception give the father any right over the pregnancy?

There was a Salman Khan film, I don't remember the name. In that, Shilpa Shetty, who plays his wife, does not want to have a baby because she wants to focus on her modelling career. She however conceives and does not want to continue with the pregnancy, Salman goes to court and gets an injunction against the MTP. She has to continue with the pregnancy and hand over the child to him after birth. Of course, all is resolved in the climax qand there is a happy ending. However, that is a film at the end of the day. Is obtaining an injunction really legally tenable and what is the guarantee that there will be a happy ending? Also, if the mother is going to carry through with the pregnancy feeling resentful about it, how will this impact the child?

What are your thoughts on all of this?

I m pro-life ... but suggest for a mutual decision on this.. ..!

shadi karke phaas gaya yaar is the movies name

Highly debatable issue Sujatha...my thoughts are..If you can't bring up a child, you have no right to bring him in this world. I live in a country and society where there is no concept of family. Girls get pregnant at 15 and most of the time they don't know who the father is, everyday there is a case of child abuse. Other day there was a case of a girl who put her baby in a microwave because she was crying. As a doctor I have seen dysfunctional families, teenage pregnancies, abused foster children. SO for such people...it is better to have abortion than to bring a child into this world. But if you want to abort because of your career than it's not worth it. We have no rite to take an innocent live.

@Alka...

You are right...logically the mother should have a say...but the reality is vastly different...I am sure you saw that episode of Aamir Khan's show where he discussed female foeticide...one of the ladies said that she had been taken to the hospital where her child was aborted without her knowledge...

However, I am talking of a situation where maybe a mother does not want to have the child...of course if she had been raped or deserted by her partner, then the situation is different...but if it is a woman who is in a perfectly normal marriage but still does not want to go through with her pregnancy for professional reasons, what happens then?

Originally posted by: Armu4eva

I m pro-life ... but suggest for a mutual decision on this.. ..!

If I am getting you right, you are saying that you are pro-life in principle...but where there is a couple involved, you feel the decision has to be mutual...!

Originally posted by: sss97

shadi karke phaas gaya yaar is the movies name

Thank you 😳

@shivani...

Fully agree,,,,I think we cannot generalize here...

Teen pregnancies or pregnancies that are outcomes of rape fall into another category altogether...

I don't know if you have read a book called Freakonomics...it claims that statistics reveal that the crime rate came down in certain states of the US post the legalization of abortion,...since teen mothers, who were unable to cope with child bearing and child rearing, did not have to go through with the choice..

Yes, dropping a pregnancy because your career plans are going to be affected does seem a bit cold blooded...although there was a show on DD many years ago where a woman aborts her pregnancy because it interferes with a huge career opportunity...and this causes great friction between her and her husband...this is why I wondered if the husband has a right to an opinion since it is ultimately the woman who bears the biological responsibility of child bearing!

Originally posted by: Sujatha.rao

@Alka...

You are right...logically the mother should have a say...but the reality is vastly different...I am sure you saw that episode of Aamir Khan's show where he discussed female foeticide...one of the ladies said that she had been taken to the hospital where her child was aborted without her knowledge...

However, I am talking of a situation where maybe a mother does not want to have the child...of course if she had been raped or deserted by her partner, then the situation is different...but if it is a woman who is in a perfectly normal marriage but still does not want to go through with her pregnancy for professional reasons, what happens then?

sujata ji,i watched in crime petrol,and in the case of you mentioned.if you don't want a child you surely take care to avoid preg.and you cant abort that child bec it became hurdle in between your enjoyment,freedom or career.you know i am watching one serial where they before marriage signed agreement that girl claused that she will never give birth to a child bec of scar of lossing figure[this is sure western pattern of life]