The I-(rrational) pill

Illustration/Uday Mohite

How to get a prescription for the excessive moral panic and irrational desire for control of people's bodies? This is a question that comes to mind, as we follow the latest episode of the long running cultural soap opera titled Who's Afraid of Sexual Autonomy?

There is a proposed ban on over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive pill (ECP), more commonly called I-pill, which prevents pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. The ban's aim or claim is to prevent "irrational and excessive use" of the morning after pill. The pill has been widely available in India since 2002. The exception is the state of Tamil Nadu where ECPs have been shadow banned since 2006. It is TN that has lobbied for the national ban.

Tamil Nadu's moral ban followed protests from anti-abortion groups like Responsible Parents Forum and Satvika Samuga Sevakar Sangam, which claimed ECPs induce abortion.

They don't induce abortion. Rather, they prevent ovulation. Irrational and excessive, anyone? TNs Drug Controller at the time stated that ECPs allowed women to think they could get away with "anything". In other words, women will pursue a life of sexual pleasure and self-actualisation, thereby hastening sarvanash, a not at all irrational or excessive belief apparently.

Women, married or not, might have sex without contraception for many reasons. Desire for unprotected sex is not one of them. The National Family Health Survey - five showed that despite 97 per cent of men having knowledge about condoms, the utilisation rate is a mere 10 per cent. We are a society that centres male desire, even guards it given the resistance to acknowledging marital rape. Gender norms don't enable women to negotiate contraceptive use. Considering that one in three pregnancies in India are unwanted as per a Lancet survey, and abortions primarily take place outside medical facilities due to the high stigma against abortion, why would one take away from those who can get pregnant, a relatively safe and simple method of avoiding pregnancy?

Since apparently women are irrational and excessive and want to get away with anything, they must seek a prescription for ECPs from a national, sorry mera matlab hai, rational doctor. A study of doctor's attitudes by the Population Council found that nearly half the doctors it surveyed judged ECP seekers as promiscuous. Another study, (Khan, Dixit, Bhatnagar and Brady), found that 53 per cent of the doctors surveyed believed that people seeking ECPs are likelier to engage in premarital sex. Three-fourths believed it encouraged sex with multiple partners--and that these are bad things. Such prejudices affect the health and treatment of women, young people and queer people. And why not focus on changing mindsets instead of policing bodies?

We have grown up surrounded by the relentless soundtrack of family planning - Nirodh, Mala-D, Hum Do Hamare Do - and a history of excessive, sometimes forced sterilisations of women as a means to meet this national goal. Alongside it is the FAQ for newlyweds: when are you giving us good news? Yaniki, we gave you permission to have sex so you could give us babies to carry forward the family name. It seems everyone is allowed to decide which pregnancy is unwanted and which is desirable, except people who can actually get pregnant. Rationalise that. Oh, wait, the patriarchy already did.

Paromita Vohra is an award-winning Mumbai-based filmmaker, writer and curator working with fiction and non-fiction. Reach her at paromita.vohra@mid-day.com