Written by Ayesha Alvi
Brief
The piece discusses the factors that stand in the way of legalizing abortion in Pakistan by presenting a real-life experience. Moreover, it also explores the issues that would arise if abortion is legalized. In Pakistan, most women belonging to the working class are accidentally pregnant since most of them don’t have any awareness regarding birth control. Once they are pregnant, they are hesitant to get an abortion due to multiple reasons (to be discussed in the article) and they have to nurture another child even if they can’t afford or don’t have the mental capacity to do so. It is quite an often sight and never fails to alarm me. Consequently, I felt compelled to fulfill my duty of raising awareness about the situation through my writing. I hope you enjoy and learn from the article!
Designed by Khushi Jamnadas
Women belonging to the working class have numerous responsibilities, from taking care of the kids to earning an income to support the family's monthly expenses. However, men are still considered leaders of the family even if they do not support the household in any way. Between 1990-1991, 93% of households were headed by males. What is even more unfortunate is that women, regardless of being the only source of income sustaining the family, do not have control over their bodies.
Often, women in Pakistan do not have a say in whether they want to have a child or not. Even if the health impacts on the women are disastrous, they continue to have more children due to pressure from the family. Chiefly, women don’t terminate their pregnancies because of religious and societal constraints. Munawar Ali, a domestic worker, pregnant with her fifth child, shared her experience in an interview; “I recently had my fourth child through cesarean delivery. After the birth of my fourth child, my gynecologist didn’t let me keep contraceptives without providing me a valid reason.” Since she could not afford private health care, she had to take medical refuge in governmental health services, which are substandard.
Without nursing back to health, Munawar started working again. Her health was gradually deteriorating. She said, “I remember working was effortless to me. I would readily work throughout the day, but after my fourth child, my everyday routine became a rigorous task.” Little did she know, soon she will be faced with an unsolvable dilemma. Approximately seven months after the birth of her fourth child, she found out she was pregnant with her fifth child.
Her immediate thought was to get an abortion. She said, “I knew that I will not be able to raise another child.” However, her religion doesn’t permit abortion. Hence, after contemplating whether or not she should get an abortion, she finally decided to keep the baby.
But even if she had decided against terminating the pregnancy, would it be possible to execute the abortion safely given the rotten abortion health services in Pakistan?
No, it was out of the question!
The main reason behind that is religion. Most religions practiced in Pakistan condemn abortion. Instead of viewing it as a matter of personal circumstances and choice, many people think it will subvert the system of religion. However, if one is a firm believer of their religion, health services enabling abortion shouldn’t disrupt them from practicing it.
Hypothetically speaking, even if abortion is made legal in Pakistan, doctors will not be willing to perform it.
As I mentioned earlier, most citizens of Pakistan are pro-life. And so, even if abortion is made legal, it is likely that the doctors will refuse to carry it out. Obviously, their decision will most likely be influenced by their religion and societal norms.
Pakistan, like many other countries, is a long way away from normalizing abortion. The least the government could do is to educate citizens on family planning and contraceptives. A complete transformation in social constructs and legislation is instantaneously needed, to support women's rights. And of course, we all also need to play our role in it. After all, it starts within every one of us!
Original source from https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR29/03Chapter3.pdf
The interview was conducted by the author. The name of the interviewee was kept confidential due to privacy reasons. The name used in the article was the interviewee’s real name.
About the Author
Ayesha Alvi is currently enrolled in her O-levels (grade 10). She is an emerging writer and is primarily passionate about writing stories that highlight the struggle of underprivileged groups in her native country Pakistan. She has her own website on WordPress that goes by the name of Demonstrating Voices. Alongside writing, she also has an interest in web designing and music. She has recently started learning the guitar and is also working on her podcast that focuses on discussing social customs.