Safe, accessible medical abortion in a rural Tamil Nadu clinic, India, but what about sexual and reproductive rights?

Abstract

Women's control over their own bodies and reproduction is a fundamental prerequisite to the achievement of sexual and reproductive health and rights. A woman's ability to terminate an unwanted pregnancy has been seen as the exercise of her reproductive rights. This study reports on interviews with 15 women in rural South India who had a medical abortion. It examines the circumstances under which they chose to have an abortion and their perspectives on medical abortion. Women in this study decided to have an abortion when multiple factors like lack of spousal support for child care or contraception, hostile in-laws, economic hardship, poor health of the woman herself, spousal violence, lack of access to suitable contraceptive methods, and societal norms regarding reproduction and sexuality converged to oppress them. The availability of an easy and affordable method like medical abortion pills helped the women get out of a difficult situation, albeit temporarily. Medical abortion also fulfilled their special needs by ensuring confidentiality, causing least disruption of their domestic schedule, and dispensing with the need for rest or a caregiver. The study concludes that medical abortion can help women in oppressive situations. However, this will not deliver gender equality or women's empowerment; social conditions need to change for that.

Running an obstacle-course: a qualitative study of women’s experiences with abortion-seeking in Tamil Nadu, India

“… 26–29 Access to abortion for women from historically excluded and oppressed communities is even more challenging due to their socio-economic vulnerabilities. Given this backdrop, women are forced to seek abortion from private facilities, 24 , 27–29 even in a state like Tamil Nadu, which has a relatively robust public health system. 30 …”

Pathways to seeking medication abortion care: A qualitative research in Uttar Pradesh, India

“…[20] Two other relevant studies in India examined women’s perspectives of and experiences with MA in clinics, but did not recruit women who had pursued out-of-facility abortion. [21,22] Qualitative studies with men on their experience as part of the out-of-facility MA decision-making process do not appear in the extant literature, despite evidence that they often purchase MA at pharmacies for their partners. [13–15]…”