I read this piece on India Together – Morning-after pills seized in Chennai – a while ago, shook my head in disbelief, book-marked it and forgot about it. Yesterday, I read Harini’s posts on sex and sensibility – I try not to be judgemental about it – but there is something fundamentally wrong when a 15 year old goes for a MTP not because she had sex, but because she did not know about safe sex – and why, because their mothers did not want to talk to their daughters about it since it was “not part of our culture”. Right.
In the case of the morning-after pill which were to become available OTC from October, the Tamilnadu government’s drug controller seized stocks from Chennai’s pharmacies responding to protests – that such medical aids promoted free sex and took away responsibility from the act of sexual intercourse.
More from the article – In what was seen as a major step forward for the reproductive rights of women, in September 2005, the Drug Controller General of India officially made a levonorgestrel-based EC available over the counter. But the Chennai-based Responsible Parents Forum and Satvika Samuga Sevakar Sangam are seeking to challenge that order.
The Responsible Parents Forum and the Association for Social Welfare have jointly decided that what is required is not a step forward but several steps backward, preferably with eyes tightly shut to the real world out there. And they have gone ahead and got the drug withdrawn from the market. Serves you right, you immoral girls.
Please read the entire article at India Together and Harini’s post – it is scary to think of how we persist with the speak-no-evil-see-no-evil-andhey-there-IS-no-evil (sex = evil in this context) attitude. What about women who are vulnerable – rape victims, women who have been forced into the sex act but wish to avoid pregnancy, even within a marriage? Or simply, women who have had sex out of choice but aree not ready for a pregnancy?
Reproductive rights, please go take a walk. Morality, take a bow in the meanwhile.
And I thought such moronic behavior was strictly American and we practiced, “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding sex and contraception.
Ostritch Mentality
….society has and will always try to take control of woman’s sexuality…I always wonder why??…maybe coz it find it easier to subjugate woman with hypocracy than control man’s libido
As they say, we get what we deserve.
With people like this, and with votes in their hand, what do you think we will get, but Govt.s like what we have today.
There is no use complaining anymore about Govt.’s and the Left’s antiquated methods / policies. They are but a microcosm of the electorate which they represent. With electorates like this, we get the Govt. that we deserve.
The richest irony, though, is reserved for this happening in TN, supposedly one of the more progressive states with respect to women development etc… Goodness gracious !!!
As much as it is a victory of the rabid right, it is also a failure of liberal voices — once again.
the sad fact remains that the liberal voices in society scare away aam janta – I mean do you really want the Mahesh Bhatt’s of the world or his ilk to tell you how to bring up your kids or run your life. And the rabid right with its inbuilt ‘hamari sanskruti’ ‘family’ ‘values’ etal strike more of a chord than any thing else.
I think that liberals in India have to seriously relook at their approach to society and its issues. At this point in time we fall either into the wishy washy or the loony segment. Unable to make an impact either way. And far too colonized in their approach to issues and concerns that are indian.
We possibly need to stop looking westwards and borrowing ideas and concepts and evolve stuff based on our own requirements. You wont believe the number of times i have had ‘roe v/s wade’ thrown at me when i have had discussions on the issue of family planning and sex education or the 1st ammendment thrown at me when we discuss freedom of expression — the problem with these approaches is that they are good concepts, even good constructs — but what do they have to do with us?
The inability of us as liberals not to have evolved a set of pillars that are indegenous and reflect the needs and requirements of our society is sad, and it is hardly surprising that it is ineffectual.
The prob with Democracy – everyone assumes he is the king. So, framing the rules becomes everyone’s second nature; and enforcement is everyone’s hobby :-p
But then, what else could be expected of idle minds? And more so with the confused ones. And these days, most houses have opaque cupboards with fancy locks; the skeletons remain safe within and the self-annointed avatars happily walk about advocating their whims.
Man is nature’s mistake; and the mistake mutates into a crime everyday.
This is probably the biggest problem with India today. Wonder why educated parents still consider it taboo to talk to their children about the dangers of having unprotected sex. I mean, just talking about it will not actually encourage their children to experiment with sex.
God knows when India and Indians will change this hypocritical viewpoint towards the S word.