Friday, 17 May, 2024
Does this one issue establish that India is better than the United States when it comes to women’s rights?
Recently, the Delhi High Court had rejected the petition of a six month pregnant unmarried young lady who sought to abort the foetus/child. However, the Supreme Court not only heard her urgent appeal but also declared that the woman has a right to abort as she has absolute control on decisions regarding her body and life. The recent Supreme Court intervention and verdict got a fair bit of media attention. But it was largely drowned by news of the election of Droupadi Murmu as the President of India. And of course, the news cycle was as usual also dominated by Hindu-Muslim issues. In any case, the issue of abortion causes far less controversy in India compared to caste and religious identities. It is both baffling and fascinating: the manner in which the two largest democracies of the world India and the United States react and relate to the issue of abortion and the supposedly fundamental right of a woman to take that decision on her own. India, in this case, emerges as pragmatic and more egalitarian while the United States appears deeply fractured.
Ever since the American Supreme Court overturned its own Roe versus Wade verdict of 1973 that gave a woman a fundamental right to undergo an abortion, the country has erupted in a vicious culture and social war. Soon after the verdict, at least half a dozen “conservative” states made abortions completely illegal and even announced that adult women travelling to other states that allow abortion for undergoing one will be treated as criminals and fugitives. Pew Research Centre is one of the respected research cum polling agencies in the United States. Soon after the verdict, it conducted a survey in America on the issue of abortions. The responses are disturbing for many who think that a woman must have complete and absolute right over her own body. As for White evangelical Protestants which has been the dominant group in the country for centuries, 74% think abortions must be made illegal. At the other end are those categorised as “unaffiliated” whose numbers are rising every year: 84% of them think abortions should e totally legal. Split down the middle are catholics who have been traditionally anti-abortion. About 56% think it should be legal.
There is a virtual civil war kind of situation on the issue in America. Indians are far more non challans when it comes to this issue, as shown in the other chart. A majority of almost every category are of the opinion that they totally support the Supreme Court decision to allow the pregnant unmarried woman to undergo an abortion even though her pregnancy is at an advanced stage. The only category which disagrees with the majority opinion in the survey conducted by C Voter-India Tracker is Christians: well above two thirds of them don’t approve of abortion.
So does this one issue establish that India is better than the United States when it comes to women’s rights? Sensible people, and those who follow data rather than extreme ideological views know that societies are far more complex and nuanced than being merely black or white.
