The tragedy of Dr Savita Halappanavar’s death continues to unfold. Prima facie, it seems to be a case of medical negligence, sought to be cloaked in religious beliefs. We cannot judge, because we do not know all the facts of the case; including the actual laws of the Republic of Ireland.
The death of an Indian woman in Ireland has caused much ire in our country, with TV anchors and assorted politicians venting their spleen at both Ireland and the Catholic Church, as the majority of the Irish are Catholic. Some commentators have gone so far as to allege a racial angle, and the suppression of a woman’s rights over her own body. These issues need to be addressed.
I doubt if Ireland is a theocratic State like Pakistan and several Arab countries, or an autocratic one like China. Can India be called a Hindu Rashtra just because Hinduism is the predominant religion? In the absence of more information I will not press the issue. However, we need to know that just a few months ago, “staunchly Catholic Ireland” sternly dismissed the Vatican’s ambassador to their country, as a mark of protest against the Catholic Church’s allegedly soft stand on clerical paedophilia.
As for racism, we are among the most caste and colour conscious. Look at the sale of fairness creams and the ads for fair brides. On the very page that Hindustan Times carried Savita’s story there is also a report of a Dutch woman, Flair de Noozle, being thrown off a running train near Dehradun. The previous week we had the case of a Spanish woman raped and robbed in her Mumbai apartment. So no finger pointing please.
Savita died on 28th October, then how did the story break in India as late as15th November? Did somebody have a vested interest, with an axe to grind, in this case with the Catholic Church, a perennially soft target? There is no denying that the Catholic Church officially states that abortion is intrinsically and morally wrong, as it is denying the voiceless unborn its right to live. Muslims also support this view.
However, every right also enshrines in itself a duty. There can be no absolute right. While Christian belief, and more particularly Catholic teaching, considers the taking of any form of human life as morally wrong, it also sees exceptions that are for the greater good, or, in some cases, the lesser evil. So there is an individual’s right to self-defence, as also a nation’s right to maintain law and order, or to defend its borders. The same principles must be applied if a mother’s life is endangered by a difficult pregnancy, or medical complications, as in Savita’s case. Here one cannot cite religious beliefs to deny critical medical procedures. If that was indeed the case, then it was a gross dereliction of duty.
On the other hand, in our own country, we find that gender prejudices and a near absolute right to “abortion on demand” have resulted in a skewed sex ratio. Nature is taking its revenge, with men from Haryana and Rajasthan shopping for brides from poorer States. Even China’s one-child norm has resulted in Chinese men “buying” brides from Vietnam! So we do need to respect the laws of nature as well, to strike a balance.
We need to adopt the pragmatism of Jesus Christ himself. He defied the religious customs of his times. When he healed a man on the Sabbath Day (a day on which no work was permitted) he incurred the wrath of the entrenched religious establishment. When confronted he retorted, “Was man made for the Sabbath, or the Sabbath for man?” Laws are made for humans, and not the other way around. Eternal wisdom, to guide us in conflict situations.
Moralistic absolutism must be tempered with pragmatic relativism. It is like putting up a warning near a deep river, to not jump into the water. But if somebody does fall into the water, what do we do? Do we say, “I warned you”, or, “I’m here to help you”. As the National President of the All India Catholic Union, and through my writings, I have had many run-ins with our Catholic bishops, and even the Vatican; on issues relating to marriage, divorce and family planning; that affect married people. I hold that “celibate old males in boardrooms, alone cannot decide what young couples do in their bedrooms”, or hospitals, for that matter. Savita, R.I.P.
November 2012
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