Humiliation, shame and stigma add to misery of women seeking abortion

When 34-year-old Kruti realised she was pregnant early in January 2024, she was embarrassed. Kruti lives in Delhi with four children – the oldest is 12 years old and the youngest is six. She felt that she would be mocked and that she had to arrange for an abortion herself.

So Kruti went to the government-run Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in North West Delhi. “When I met the doctor and told her I wanted an abortion, she shouted at me: ‘How many kids will you produce? Don't you ever think about the future?’ Badtameezi se baat karte hai – they speak very rudely,” said Kruti, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy. Her voice trailed off as she could not bear to mention everything the doctor said.

Kruti said she was given a run-around in the busy, crowded hospital for four days over a couple of weeks. She spent days undergoing blood tests, an ultrasound test and collecting the reports, for which she came to the hospital several times. It was difficult to leave her young children alone at home and come to the hospital constantly.

She was already two-and-a-half months pregnant and felt that she was running out of time. “Not once did I get...

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