Niketa and Haresh Mehta were told by their gynaecologist that the fetus Niketa has been carrying for 25 weeks has complete heart blockage and malpositioned arteries that could require a pacemaker implantation soon after birth.
The couple had to make a choice.
Go on with the pregnancy and deliver the child. What follows is a life that will consist of the three people coming in and going out of hospitals. Mounting financial pressures and mean world to face. Which gets meaner if it smells a weakness in your life. There is no denying the fact that with a child like that you are faced with taunting relatives, a oblivious government and not so understanding society.
Or they could go for a quiet, illegal abortion. That could save them from public scrutiny and a hopefully healthy next child, which must have been part of their marital dreams.
Or go to the court for permission so that they could have the fetus aborted legally. And get on with life and make a fresh beginning. They choose the last option and moved to court.
In section 3 of the MPT act of 1971 allows for the abortion between 12th and 20th week of pregnancy if the baby's health is at risk, after two doctors certify the condition in good faith. Their petition was rejected by the court.
This case has opened up a debate in public forums. The debate is revolving around - Which is more powerful? Right to life or right to choice. Theology has an opinion. Ethics brings in its point. Science has things to say. Practicality is the undercurrent. And I am not decided. This exercise of writing this post could bring me closer to the answer.
It must have been tragic for the mother and the immediate family to learn the truth about the child. And nobody feels closer to the child than them. So their decision to abort must have been as painful as the news about his/her probable handicap.
The couple had to make a choice.
Go on with the pregnancy and deliver the child. What follows is a life that will consist of the three people coming in and going out of hospitals. Mounting financial pressures and mean world to face. Which gets meaner if it smells a weakness in your life. There is no denying the fact that with a child like that you are faced with taunting relatives, a oblivious government and not so understanding society.
Or they could go for a quiet, illegal abortion. That could save them from public scrutiny and a hopefully healthy next child, which must have been part of their marital dreams.
Or go to the court for permission so that they could have the fetus aborted legally. And get on with life and make a fresh beginning. They choose the last option and moved to court.
In section 3 of the MPT act of 1971 allows for the abortion between 12th and 20th week of pregnancy if the baby's health is at risk, after two doctors certify the condition in good faith. Their petition was rejected by the court.
This case has opened up a debate in public forums. The debate is revolving around - Which is more powerful? Right to life or right to choice. Theology has an opinion. Ethics brings in its point. Science has things to say. Practicality is the undercurrent. And I am not decided. This exercise of writing this post could bring me closer to the answer.
It must have been tragic for the mother and the immediate family to learn the truth about the child. And nobody feels closer to the child than them. So their decision to abort must have been as painful as the news about his/her probable handicap.
"It's not that I would deliver the baby now only to give it away," was Niketa's response to the news that NGOs were willing to take care of the baby. "I am not heartless. My child's not a burden. But it is less painful to end it now rather than see your child in front of you. Our doctors said the foetus could have a blocked heart and malpositioned arteries and it could prove risky; one of them even told us that there could be sudden death and the pacemaker surgery could be risky for a new-born."
For me, the life of a living person is more important than the 'life' of a fetus. If somebody wanted me killed when I was a fetus, I am certain I wouldn't even know to be effected by it. Bringing up a child is a huge responsibility. I presume all parents want the best for the child and therefore the responsibility gets bigger and severe when your child has any permanent ailment or handicap. At this stage of her pregnancy Niketa is asking herself - Can I give the child a dignified, independent life? While some are arguing about the fetus's right to life, she wishes the child has the right to dignified life, which she understandably, is not so sure if thats possible in the society that we live in today.
For the people, who argue that we are messing with or playing God (which I interpret - and rather correctly - obstructing the nature's handling of events) when we kill a fetus, I have this to ask - If you fell sick would you want nature to take it's course or would you ask science to come to your aid and change that course?
I will end this post with a comment posted for the article about the couple in the Times of India, which I think is a philosophical and yet a very practical take on the issue. I hope Niketa has read it, for this is the best advice anyone could give her at this juncture of her life. That news article also happens to be the source for all the information stated in this post.
The comment follows.
For the people, who argue that we are messing with or playing God (which I interpret - and rather correctly - obstructing the nature's handling of events) when we kill a fetus, I have this to ask - If you fell sick would you want nature to take it's course or would you ask science to come to your aid and change that course?
I will end this post with a comment posted for the article about the couple in the Times of India, which I think is a philosophical and yet a very practical take on the issue. I hope Niketa has read it, for this is the best advice anyone could give her at this juncture of her life. That news article also happens to be the source for all the information stated in this post.
The comment follows.
Sanat Attavar, Chennai, says: Dear Mehtas, I don't want to give any advise on what's right & what's not. I'm a single father of a 9 year old non verbal autistic boy. Science does not know why autism happens and untill my lil' boy was 2 years old he was normal and suddenly he changed. Now who's door would you knock and for what.....All i want to tell is accept life for what it is, happily & give life your best and the best will come back to you. There is joy in everything you do, be it taking care of a sick child or bringing up a healthy child. You have to find the joy.
This is a raging debate and I would like to have the opinions of all the readers on the issue. So, go ahead and post your comment.
Comments
In this article, I have noticed something between the lines and this is beyond the theme of this article. this is as follows:
The line says"....mean world which becomes meaner if it sees some weakness in you.." this is true but why the world is so...
Why the world is so? Now thats a difficult one....
Life is a challenge. For everyone. Some have to live with the grief of losing a love one. Some have to live with grief of losing love. While some have have to live with a handicap. Few have to live with bringing up a handicap child and so on....
some challenges are man made, some gifted by nature. We all play our part in the dynamics of creating and facing challenges and in the process our characters gets build and revealed by the whole dynamics.