The Chat Room: The guilt of abortion and rape stays for a long time'

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a rape victim to abort her abnormal 24-week-old foetus on the ground that the pregnancy could endanger her physical and mental health. Dr Kamini Rao, a pioneer in the field of assisted reproduction in India, is not unfamiliar with the trauma women go through when deciding on an abortion. And when rape is involved, it gets even worse, she points out.

The doctor, who speaks as a woman first and a medical professional next, says, the judgement, though welcome, does not change the  deep-seated issues involved in such cases. “For any woman a baby is a baby and an abortion  takes a toll on her. And then there is the sense of guilt. The guilt of abortion and the guilt of rape stay much longer with her. Counselling has to be  long term, for at least six months after the act. I have seen women becoming anti-social , which means integrated counselling is required. Many people look at rape as a tragic episode, but  it has a longer term impact than just an abortion," she noted.  

"The court's move is welcome but the associated risk for a rape victim, who has an abortion in the 20th week of pregnancy or in the 24th is similar. Many victims are not even aware they are pregnant unless they notice a bulge, which is in the fifth month," she said, ruing that  even then they feared talking about it  because of the lack of support in society at large. "Look at the electronic media and the way it sensationalises a rape victim's story. They use it on a political plank. But do we look at the woman with sympathy? Do we include her in society? No!" she noted, adding, “We need to also focus on  multi –level issues here. One is actually the act of rape, which brings with it its own deep-seated burden. Then there is the physical problem of getting the baby terminated. So when it comes to rape, we need to look at the larger picture,  whether the woman is aware that she is pregnant and also her psychological trauma. If there is a chance of a woman getting pregnant after a rape, she  should be taken to a gynaecologist."

While in India, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, allows for abortions within 20 weeks of pregnancy if there is threat to the woman's life or if there is impaired feotal development, she regrets that  decisions are often not taken in favour of a rape victim. “The woman is always at  the losing end,” she sums up.