CHENNAI: Quite often I wonder if writing about contemporary feminist issues week after week has any point. After all, I write not more than these 700-odd words a week at a time in which opinions are manufactured by the minute on social media. But an email that comes in once a week, on an average, usually helps put this line of enquiry to rest at least temporarily.
“Help!” screams the subject line, or “Urgent”. The emails come from different people each time, but they all have the same query — where does one find an emergency contraceptive pill in Chennai? Mothers, wives, girlfriends, friends and boyfriends (many, many of them) write to me. “I read your column on the subject,” they say, or “Your article came up on an Internet search, I have tried many pharmacies and can’t find an ECP anywhere. Can you help?” I do, every single time, first responding to the email and then coordinating the pill pickup, following up till the pill has been taken and all fears have been put to rest and everyone is relieved. Every single time I worry, and I am glad to have been of help.
So when I saw a Facebook status a couple of weeks ago seeking recommendations for non-judgemental and affordable providers of medical termination of pregnancies (MTP) to help a nineteen-year-old who was 11 weeks pregnant, I knew I had to write about it. Abortions are not illegal in India and may be performed under specific conditions in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, though this is not commonly known.
Abortions can be carried out with the consent of the pregnant person if the mental/physical health of the woman is at stake; if it is detected that the child may have physical/mental abnormalities; if there is an allegation of rape or in the case of married women, if the pregnancy is a result of contraceptive failure. Abortion does not need proof of marriage, spousal or parental consent — the guardian’s consent is only required in the case of a minor or a person with psycho-social disability. The consent of the medical practitioner (one if the pregnancy is under 12 weeks and two if under 20 weeks) is most important.
A simple web search will land you on many blogs, resources and campaigns that debunk myths and lay bare the facts. But there are few ways to access advice or abortion in a given city, and this may be daunting even with all the reading at your fingertips so here’s all one needs to know: If you’re having sex, use condoms. If you’re sexually active, see a doctor, learn about possible contraception methods available to you, and if you can, get on one. If the contraception fails, immediately source and take an emergency contraceptive pill (reach out if you cannot find one) but remember that the ECP’s are not a substitute for long-term contraception, must not be taken frequently and are not always effective. If your period is delayed do not dismiss it. If there is no sight of the period six weeks after the last cycle be alarmed. Do not wait any longer and talk to a friend, a mentor, a parent or a trusted relative. If there is no one to help you, I will.
A whole bunch of us will. We will talk to you, reassure you, lay out the options, encourage you to make your own choice and stand by you whatever you choose to do. We’ll go with you to the doctor, wait along with you, hold your hand, be generous with hugs and bring you comfort food. While we wait and work for the law to catch up on the language rights, for us to destigmatise abortions and make the choice of the person to abort a basic right, and for abortions to be safe, legal, accessible and affordable to those who require it all the while fighting culture-keepers, we’ll continue to look out for each other. It’s a promise.
seker.archanaa@gmail.com
The writer is a city-based activist, in-your-face feminist and a media glutton