Reacting to the story of Mehtas who want to abort their 6 month old foetus because the baby will be born with a terminal illness. More details here.
I’m not arguing for the Mehtas’, neither against them. A lot of debate is already happening on how ethical it is, should the abortion laws change, etc etc. Here’s my fear - when the child is born, and if the child lives a reasonably normal life, what ‘mental’ trauma will she go through?
All this while everyone has been talking about the potential physical trauma of the child, and the mental/financial trauma for the parents. But won’t the knowledge and evidence of the fact that the parents actually wanted to kill her, play havoc on her mind? How unwanted will she feel? How lonely? And hence, how vulnerable?
But hey, don’t get me wrong here - I’m sure the Mehta’s are going through a lot of stress and in a way they are being fair to the unborn child. Mercy killing, in theory, is not such a bad thing. Abortion, at least in India, is allowed up to 20 weeks of conception - that is also killing in a way; and that’s always selfish, right? One aborts because she does not want that child. Period. What is so different here?
However coming back to the point, if such an ‘unwanted’ child is born, and later knows that she was unwanted, what does she go through…
on Aug 5th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
The difference between the two abortions is that the child is not really born till those 20 weeks. the child formation starts only after that period. However, in the other case, the chils is already there. By this I am also not talking for or against anyone coz I’m sure it would be a very very tough call for the parents. I hope God allows the right thing to happen…
on Aug 5th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Uh oh… I somehow read (in my mind) that 20 weeks as something else… in that case, yes its the same thing!
on Aug 5th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Well yes and no. Irrespective of the tenure of the pregnancy - I think life begins at conception… Am I missing something here?
on Aug 5th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
[...] Sameer Agarwal asks what the consequences will be on the child who will later find out that he or she was not wanted in the first place. Maami's Weblog has a post that has a lot of commenters expressing sympathy for the parents, and for the child who might be born with a severe disability. Chennai Television explores the idea of science and religion playing a role in abortion laws. The other aspect to this issue is that the couple did not opt for an illegal abortion, and instead sought permission from the courts. Mumbai Metblogs says First it is not that we have hundreds of Nikita’s walking in every day asking for court’s help to abort a child. Secondly the one person who has faith in the laws and wanted to go about the right way has been bowled out. After this I don’t think that people will have any hopes of receiving the justice to any issue. The moral of the story is such incidents will make the people loose faith in law and justice. [...]
on Aug 6th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Well… you’re not really missing anything..its just about individual perception!
on Aug 6th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
[...] Самир Агарвал се прашува какви ќе бидат последиците по детето ако подоцна дознае дека не било сакано. Веблогот на Мами објавува пост во кој многу од коментаторите изразуваат сочувство со родителите и со детето кое би можело да се роди со сериозен инвалидитет. Телевизија Ченаи ја истражува идејата науката и религијата да играат улога во донесувањето закони за абортус. Другиот аспект од ова прашање е фактот дека двојката не се одлучила за илегален абортус, туку побарале дозвола од судот. Мумбаи Метблогс вели Прво, немаме секој ден стотици Никити кои влегуваат во судот и бараат дозвола од судот да абортираат. Второ, оние кои имале верба во законот и сакале да го следат вистинскиот пат беа одбиени. После ова не мислам дека многу луѓе ќе се надеваат дека ќе добијат правда по било кое прашање. Наравоучение од оваа приказна е дека вакви инциденти прават луѓето да изгубат верба во законот и правдата. [...]
on Aug 6th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
The child will definitely have to undergo a great deal of mental trauma when it is told that he/she was unwanted even before it came into this world… This peculiar (and somewhat sad) situation is arising because of the fact, that law in India refuses to accept that a foetus inside a mother’s womb has already come to life. More more, refer to my blog…