abortion and India

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VINA | General News

ABORTION IN THE LAND OF DHARMA

by Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti

 

Many people are not aware that abortion has been legal in India since 1972. Every Indian hospital and Indian doctor is obliged to perform abortions if so requested by the people. The number of unborn babies being destroyed in this way is becoming a karmic burden, diminishing the luster and piety of many people, leaving them in no higher position than that of a brutal baby-killer.

 

In addition, female embryos have very little chance of being born. By Indian tradition, in order to get your daughter married you have to produce a great deal of money as a dowry to obtain a husband of the same social ranking and to help the new family establish their independent existence. This system is accepted and it is expected when girls leave home to get married. Since few people want to give away their wealth while they are still alive, female infants are not very welcomed. This situation is so serious that in some regions such as Punjab, very few girls are born.

 

No wonder Indian people increasingly cannot understand why they shouldn't eat a cow. If you can kill your baby which has taken shelter in the mother's womb, then why not kill the animals as well? It is amazing to see that very little protest exists in India against the practice of abortion. The Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Bombay made a laudable attempt at encouraging people to make a campaign against abortion. Of course many pious people in India reject abortion. But one should expect an entire anti-abortion movement, especially coming from the teachers of dharma.

 

Srila Prabhupada clearly stated that since we cannot create life, we have no right to take anyone's life. Whoever kills a baby does not respect life. The propaganda of materialism is making rapid progress and obviously those persons in India who participate in abortions do not really know the law of karma, because if anybody realized that their participation in abortion would lead to the same fate, why would they go ahead and thus condemn their existence to the unfortunate position of an aborted fetus in the future?

 

Whenever you see a smiling little child please remember that he or she could have been killed in the womb without committing a crime according to modern Indian law. Most people live by the maxim that out of sight is out of mind, but even karma may remain out of sight to most people. It is manifesting every second. And nothing remains unseen.