'Only 20% of people in state aware that abortions are legal'

JAIPUR: Rajasthan sees 30,000-40,000 abortions every year. The figure is included in the 68 lakh abortions every year in the country, as quoted by the experts during the workshop by the IPAS Development Foundation (IDF), an organization dedicated to ending preventable deaths and disabilities arising from unsafe abortions in Jaipur on Monday.

“Ten women die of unsafe abortion every day in the country highlighting the poor accessibility of abortions leading to not only deaths but several medical problems,“ said Medha Gandhi, director policy, IDF.

Explaining the reasons behind these deaths, Gandhi said that most women don't know that abortions are legal in the country.“The lack of information on abortions forces them to look for channels which are unsafe. This contributes to the number of deaths,“ said Gandhi.

Here the experts argued that even in the central government, guidance to safe abortion in 2015 states that over 90% of abortions in the country are for medical and socio-economic reasons.She added that in Rajasthan, only about 20% are aware that abortions are legal and this is the reason that they choose unsafe options leading to high mortality rate.

The experts advocated that quality medical facilities should be given at all levels to minimize the number of deaths. The IDF is working towards preventing deaths and disabilities from unsafe abortion.

The experts also highlight that the practice of gender-biased sex selection is linked to access to legal abortion. Efforts should also be made to put curb on sex determination test which is contributing to the number of abortions.