Abstract
Infertility is a major public health concern in developing and developed
nations. In certain societies, infertility carries a social stigma and is one of
the key factors for breakup of families. The revolution created by assisted
reproductive technologies (AIR) in infertility treatment has given hope to
childless couples to have children.
The quality of diagnosis plays an important role in helping to deliver proper
therapy to such couples. Assisted reproductive technology includes medical
procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves
procedures such as in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection,
cryopreservation of gametes or embryos, and/or the use of fertility medication.
Introduction
Assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs) are defined as “all treatments or
procedures that include the in vitro handling of both human oocytes and sperm or
embryos for the purpose of establishing a pregnancy.” 35 years of assisted
reproductive technology (ART) use has become one of the standard procedure of
infertility treatment. More than 5 million babies are born after ART (1–5%
births).
Therefore, it is necessary to monitor, evaluate and trace the modifications of
procedures with growing technical development of medical practice in the field
of reproductive medicine. Assisted Reproductive Techniques have made tremendous
developments by introducing new techniques that are advanced.
Some of them are as follows:
Preimplantation genetic screening (PGS), Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD),
INVOcell, Egg Vitrification, Time Lapse Embryoscope, DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI),
Endometrial Receptivity Array (ERA).
The Reproductive Rights & Freedom Of Choice Of Women
Global Fund for Women believes that a woman's ability to access comprehensive
sexuality education, control her own body, and access the health services she
needs— regardless of her sexuality, where she lives, her income level, or her
ethnicity—is a fundamental right. Reproductive rights—having the ability to
decide whether and when to have children—are important to women's socioeconomic
well-being and overall health.
Women's reproductive rights may include some or all of the following: the right
to legal and safe abortion; the right to birth control; freedom from coerced
sterilization and contraception; the right to access good-quality reproductive
healthcare.
In the landmark English case -
Griswold v/s Connecticut (1965), the
Supreme Court ruled such laws were unconstitutional. Setting a precedent, the
Court determined that a fundamental right to privacy exists between the lines of
the Constitution. Laws prohibiting contraceptive choice violated this sacred
right.
India's Conditional Right To Abortion
Earlier the right to abortion was not permitted and it was strongly opposed by
the society. The termination of pregnancy was termed to be a murder of the
fetus. But due to the change in time and technology, nowadays this right has
been legally sanctioned by most of the nations after the famous decision of Roe
Vs Wade by the US Supreme Court. in India is legal in certain circumstances. It
can be performed on various grounds until 20 weeks of pregnancy. In exceptional
cases, a court may allow a termination after 24 weeks.
According to The Medical Termination Of Pregnancy Act, 1971, A woman has the
right to abort IF:
- The continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the
pregnant woman greater than if the pregnancy were terminated
- The termination is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the
physical or mental health of the pregnant woman
- The continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the
pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the
pregnant woman
- The continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the
pregnancy were terminated, or injury to the physical or mental health of any
existing child of the family of the pregnant woman
- There is substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer
from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
- Or in emergency, certified by the operating practitioner as immediately
necessary:
to save the life of the pregnant woman or to prevent grave permanent injury
to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.
The right to safe abortion is an important facet of their right to bodily
integrity, right to life and equality and needs to be protected
Critical Analysis of Women's Reproductive & Sexual Rights in India
The recognition of sexual and reproductive rights of women in the country still
remains negligible. Reproductive rights in India are understood only in the
context of selective issues like child marriage, female foeticide, sex selection
and menstrual health and hygiene issues.
This is reflected in election manifestos of various parties where political
parties have promised to make registration of marriages compulsory, implement
the laws prohibiting child marriages, provide reproductive and menstrual health
services to all women across India, make marital rape an offence and to ensure
strict implementation of the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques
( Prohibition Of Sex Selection) Act.
Women in India face various challenges on a daily basis. Unsafe abortions are
the third leading cause of maternal deaths in India. Researches have shown that
half the pregnancies in India are unintended and about a third result in
abortion. Only 22% of abortions are done through public or private health
facilities.
The lack of access to safe abortion clinics, particularly public hospitals, and
stigma and attitudes toward women, especially young, unmarried women seeking
abortion, contribute to this. While the The Medical Termination of Pregnancy
Act, 1971 provides for termination only up to 20 weeks, The law does not
accommodate non-medical concerns over the economic costs of raising a child,
effects on career decisions, or any other personal considerations.
There is slight improvement, as the judiciary comes to the rescue. he Supreme
Court has been extremely progressive on women's reproductive rights by
decriminalising adultery and homosexuality (Navtej Johar judgment) the court has
held clearly, that women have a right to sexual autonomy, which is an important
facet of their right to personal liberty.
The
Puttaswamy judgment specifically recognised the Constitutional right
of women to make reproductive choices, as a part of personal liberty under
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. These judgments have an important bearing
on the sexual and reproductive rights of women.
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