The Autonomy Of Women’s Bodies

As the right to abortion debate rages in the US and the world over, I’ve had a few conversations with family members, friends and colleagues, both male and female. I was hoping for some unbiased, empathetic and sensitive conversations, at least within the educated, progressive and privileged circles. But then, I was both disconcerted and surprised at the largely scathing and moralistic views expressed particularly on women’s right to abortion and the bodily autonomy of women in general.

In our discussions, except for a few women friends, no one emphatically defended the pro-choice validation for abortion.  Most of them seemed to be of the view that a woman’s body was everyone’s business, except her’s. A woman opting for abortion is either too smart or too repressed. This seemed to be the bottom line.

That abortion in India has always been viewed with a moral lens is not surprising, but to separate it from the physical and mental well-being and autonomy of the woman herself, is deeply unsettling. That’s perhaps because a woman is always considered a wife, mother, daughter and sister first and not an individual. Which manifests in viewing her body as a sexual object, a reproductive machine and as a symbol of family honour.

A close male friend defending his pro-life stand ranted that every life conceived has the right to live. But what if the child was conceived as a result of violent sexual assault, or without the consent of the woman? What if the conception was unplanned, accidental and unwanted? What about the onus of the male partner equally responsible for the conception? And why should a woman’s body be used as a battlefield to win an ideological war, especially knowing full well that it doesn’t end with the birth of the child? Women also end up single-handedly nurturing, mothering (wittingly and unwittingly) and being responsible for the children.

“Women should be ‘allowed’ to abort only when it endangers their body or that of the unborn child or if it’s proven independently that it’s due to forced sex or violence,” quipped another person. “And who would decide that?” I asked. “Besides, with millions of women getting pregnant every day, how can such cases be monitored?”

Coming to a more fundamental question, a female friend said, “why can’t laws be made lenient so that the final say is that of the woman herself since it’s her body?” This led to the most preposterous response from another male participant, “In that case, it would encourage promiscuity and casual sex leading to more abortions!” It was as if women loved undergoing repeated abortions or those who go for termination of pregnancies are only promiscuous women, I wondered.

The abortion issue has always been contentious, debated largely from the oversimplistic lens of a pro-life vs pro-choice perspective. As a feminist and a woman myself, I find that the pro-life approach disregards the well-being, bodily autonomy and dignity of the concerned woman, sometimes at the cost of her own life.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of the World Population Report 2022, around eight women die each day in India due to unsafe abortions.  There is a disproportionately higher risk of unsafe abortion among the vulnerable and disadvantaged populations including young women in India with girls between 15-19 years at the highest risk of dying from an abortion-related complication.

Bodily autonomy means the power and agency to make choices about our own bodies without fear, coercion, violence or having others decide for us. The UNFPA State of World Population Report 2021 titled ‘My Body is My Own’ underlines how women are prevented from making free choices about their lives, living and bodies. ‘Only 55 % of women are fully empowered to make choices over health care, contraception and the ability to say yes or no to sex,” the report highlights.

Interestingly, about 35.1% of men believe that contraception is “women’s business” while 19.6 % of men think that women who use contraceptives may become promiscuous, according to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 survey report. At the same time, female sterilisation remains the most popular method of contraception, showing that the onus of family planning continues to be on women but not the decision.

Although the very ability of a female body to reproduce seems to be one of the main causes of violation of bodily autonomy, the right to a woman’s body is not just about reproductive rights. Right from girl child molestation and rape, eve-teasing, sexual assaults, domestic violence and body shaming to menstruation, sex, physical pleasure and desire – girls and women are often violated and shamed when it comes to their bodies. They are never encouraged to be comfortable in their own body, to celebrate it or to even express and exercise their right over it.

Right from their childhood, girls are conditioned to be conscious of their body and are taught to always cover and protect it. In many Indian families even today, women still do not have the choice of what to wear, when and whom to marry, say no to sex or plan for children.

Other practices and incidents like child marriage, lack of say/choice in contraception, unplanned and accidental pregnancies, marital rape, unwanted sex in exchange for shelter, food and work, female genital mutilation, forced sterilisation along with rampant gender discrimination including those against people with diverse sexual orientations/gender identities compound the problem. Bodily autonomy as a right is given the least consideration when it comes to women.

While women in India may seem better positioned as far as abortion is considered, it is still not considered as a ‘right.’ Although the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 and its succeeding amendments provide access to married and unmarried women for safe and legal abortions, it does not grant them full autonomy over the process. Women can medically terminate a pregnancy only after receiving an opinion from a doctor. Likewise, the Act defines ‘women’ in a narrow sense excluding transgender and gender non-conforming persons. Interestingly, the word ‘abortion’ is not mentioned anywhere in the Act.

In spite of the legal right, abortion has been long treated as a taboo in India where a woman’s worth is measured by her role as wife and mother only and women continue to face challenges, stigma and discrimination. It is largely perceived as a moral issue with society, family and even medical practitioners harbouring such attitudes. Women seeking abortions often have to bear the brunt of a hostile and judgemental society and the healthcare system.

The conditions under which abortions are conducted not only strip a woman’s dignity but also make her feel guilty. A friend narrates how she was literally scorned by a female nurse during her abortion process. “She not only looked down upon me but literally forced me to give her a valid reason for terminating my pregnancy. A complete stranger and that too from the medical fraternity was so judgemental towards me,” says my friend.

It’s indeed ironic the way women are judged for undergoing abortions and yet are forced to abort female foetuses. The decisions around the reproductive health of women in India are often taken either by the husband or the family and hardly by women themselves. Many women also lack the voice and agency to express their choice and needs mostly due to their social and cultural conditioning to accept others’ decisions made on behalf of their bodies. A glaring example is the way women are forced to go through multiple pregnancies till they deliver a male child.

Moreover, many women still do not have the physical, financial and social access to safe abortions, which coupled with social stigma leads to unsafe abortions. Not all public health facilities, particularly in rural India provide abortion facilities.

Pregnancy of all kinds – wanted, unwanted, accidental, violent – has always been a burden for women to bear. It’s time we amplify our voices to empower women and girls to make informed and affirmative decisions about their bodies, sexual and reproductive health beyond the realm of morality and the glory of motherhood.

At the same time, it is equally important to accept that a women’s bodily autonomy goes beyond the freedom and agency to be able to make decisions on reproductive health only. A woman who has autonomy, control and agency over her body overall is more likely to be empowered in other spheres of her life as well. So, let the chorus get louder – My Body, My Choice and My Uterus, My Business!