An intriguing absence of outrage

For all the contrasts that might be drawn between American and Indian politics, one of the sharpest could be the differing role that abortion plays in the two systems. The United States is, of course, famously obsessed with abortion – leading to perennial political brawls when it is time to choose new government officials. In India, on the other hand, politicians appear generally indifferent to the subject. Why is this so?

This Indian apathy or ambivalence towards abortion holds true through the pre- and post-Independence period till the present day. During the colonial period, discussions of abortion appeared occasionally in the writings of Indian social critics, but only in order to draw attention to its perceived relation with a social 'evil'. Tarabai Shinde, the late-19th century Marathi woman who rallied against gender norms, cited abortion as evidence of men's hypocritical sexual moralities. Another Marathi writer, the iconoclast and educationalist Jotirao Phule, viewed abortion as an outcome of unjust gender and caste practices. "These [widower] Arya brahmans unashamedly make advances on the weak defenceless widows in their household and greedily seduce them," he wrote. "When these widows become pregnant they are forced to abort. This is quite a common practice." Vidyasagar, a contemporary of Phule's in Bengal, voiced similar complaints. However, while identifying abortion with some social problem, these writers and other public intellectuals of their time seem to have done little to explore the morality concerning the subject, or whether a foetus should be considered 'alive'.