- Since times immemorial, patriarchy continues to remain firmly entrenched all around the universe despite humanity progressing exponentially riding an unbelievable technological innovation in all walks of life. All those talks of gender equality, parity, unbiased treatment, respect, opportunities, and positions appear to be going nowhere as women still are subjected to essaying mostly second fiddle roles as compared to men. Of course, a certain level playing field is available for women but none can be rightly considered as equal to men. It is unbelievable to comprehend why in the modern-day world such a biased treatment is meted out to women who are the life-givers courtesy reproductive abilities without whose contribution humanity can never sustain.
PC: Jane Byrne
- Rather than accord reverence, primacy, and importance to women for their ability to give birth to make the entire humankind thrive and flourish, the society ganging up to muzzle their voices, choices, and freedom speaks volumes about the misogynistic mindset of men still ruling the roost. And the story never appears to stop anywhere in the world whether the country in question is developed, developing, or poor. The suppression goes on unabated without any palpable respite for women. Against the backdrop, comes the news that six out of nine members of the US Supreme Court seem ready to discard Roe V Wade, which nearly 50 years ago, guaranteed women’s reproductive freedom.
- Note that the religious right in the US has made abortion a flashpoint for decades, styling themselves as pro-life for prioritizing an unborn foetus over a live woman. As such, to delve deeply to comprehend where does life begins is an interesting philosophical thought-trail, but if a woman is recognized as fully human, rather than just child-bearing machinery for the next generation, her rights over her own body would never arise as a real question. The evolving situation over there may seem like a distant concern to us, but that’s only an accident. For the uninitiated, in Judeo-Christian and Islamic frameworks, life is given by God and hence, belongs to God.
PC: Stephanie Englehart
- In our country, that framework does not dominate, so abortion is not as emotionally charged and is more readily seen as a personal choice, rather than a religious one. India had had a relatively liberal approach to abortion since the 1970s when the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act was first legislated and subsequently amended a few times. Needless to mention, Indian women know too well what happens when men claim the religious authority to decide what they do with their bodies and minds.
- Just as in the US or Poland, or Afghanistan under Taliban or in many parts of India today women can easily be thrown back into religiously sanctioned, strictly private role of wife, mother, and other roles to service the patriarchy. The right to move, study, work, live freely, wear clothes, and enter into relationships as one chooses, are all fragile and hard-won achievements for women. Therefore, it is incumbent to strengthen each other’s struggles around the world to liberate women’s lives from man-made religion and law.
