In Pak, abortions are birth control
PESHAWAR: Pregnant, desperate, and poor, Pakistani mother Zameena faced a stark choice: risk her life by having a secret abortion, or risk her life bearing her husband a sixth child.
In the end, she opted for the former, one of more than two million women a year to do so in a country where religious leaders are critical of family planning measures and there is a lack of sex education and access to contraception.
Almost half of all pregnancies in Pakistan -- around 4.2 million each year -- are unplanned and around 54 percent of those end in termination, according to a report by US research firm Guttmacher Institute.
“Three years ago, when my daughter was born, the doctor told me that I should stop having babies because it would be bad for my health,” said Zameena, using an assumed name, from her home in t h e n o r t h we s t c i t y o f Peshawar.
“But whenever I say that to my husband, he tells me to trust God,” the 35-year-old added. “My husband is a religious man... he wants to have a line of sons.”
Decades ago, a family planning campaign with the slogan “do bache hi ache” or “two children is good” was rejected by religious leaders as well as nationalists who wanted a bigger population to rival the 1.2 billion people in neighbouring India.
Today with a population of around 207 million, Pakistan’s baby boom is stretching resources beyond capacity and experts warn of trouble ahead.
Zameena said she frequently suggested to her husband that they practice family planning, but he refused.
“My mother-in-law had nine kids,” said Zameena. “When I complain to my husband that I can’t have more babies, he answers: ‘If my mother didn’t die, you should also stay alive’.”
Abortion is allowed in Pakistan if the health of the mother is in danger.
But many doctors invoke their Muslim faith and refuse to carry them out. As a result, some women abort illegally and authorities largely turn a blind eye to the situation. AFP