Pandemic pushes wife to write book on crusading doc who fought to raise abortion limit

Mumbai: When Covid forced the world to shut down, Dr Smita Datar, the wife of a renowned gynaecologist and judicial activist used the time in hand to write about her husband’s 14-year crusade—a crusade that pushed the Union cabinet to upgrade an archaic law in 2020

Mumbai: When Covid forced the world to shut down, Dr Smita Datar, the wife of a renowned gynaecologist and judicial activist used the time in hand to write about her husband’s 14-year crusade—a crusade that pushed the Union cabinet to upgrade an archaic law in 2020. The story of Dr Nikhil Datar, who got policymakers to raise the upper limit for abortions from 20 weeks to 24 weeks, is now encapsulated in a Marathi book, Fakt Tichyasaathi (Only For Her), which was released today in Mumbai.

The seed for Dr Datar’s activism was sown in 2005 when a patient of his wanted to abort her severely abnormal foetus. “I could not help her,” he rued. “Later, I saw her struggle for the entire nine years that the child lived. The family was financially drained and the woman had to leave her job because no domestic help was willing to take care of the child. I realised that while legally I had done the right thing, morally and ethically I was wrong.” (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

“Years ago, the need to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act and extend the permissible abortion term was discussed only in medical conferences,” said Dr Smita. “My husband had just started his practice but he was focused on bringing justice to women. He saw many ups and downs and faced criticism but never gave up. And 50 years after the passage of the historic MTP Act of 1971, the MTP Amendment Bill 2020 was passed. It was a landmark.”

Dr Smita said she could see why some of the women who came to her husband wanted to abort. “They were suffering emotionally,” she said. “It isn’t easy to bring up a severely abnormal child. But during our practice, we saw that many women had no right to decide about their own bodies and lives—it was always other people taking the decision. As a doctor, Nikhil is on a mission to change this thought process.”

Dr Datar, who did his graduation in medicine from Mumbai’s Grant Medical College and post-graduation in gynaecology from GS Medical College, also holds an LLB degree. The latter, he said, gave him an edge in his judicial activism.

“My fight for abortion rights was more for women from the lower socio-economic class who could not afford private healthcare,” he said. “So many abnormalities can be detected in a sonography before 20 weeks. But how many women, especially rural women, have access to sonography or are even aware of it? By the time it’s done and the abnormalities are detected, it is late. It is unfair to punish women by asking them to give birth to a severely mentally or physically challenged child when we can offer them a safe abortion.”

The seed for Dr Datar’s activism was sown in 2005 when a patient of his wanted to abort her severely abnormal foetus. “I could not help her,” he rued. “Later, I saw her struggle for the entire nine years that the child lived. The family was financially drained and the woman had to leave her job because no domestic help was willing to take care of the child. I realised that while legally I had done the right thing, morally and ethically I was wrong.”

Back then, fighting for the right to a late abortion was a challenge, as there were several other debates like female foeticide and pro-life that were rampant. “There were organisations fighting to increase the abortion limit but to no avail,” said Dr Datar. “Among doctors too, the need for extending the abortion limit was restricted to medical conferences. I realised that I needed to penetrate the deaf ears of policymakers and show them the real scenario faced by these women.”

The journey began in 2008 with the famous Nikita Mehta case. “She came to me and was courageous enough to take on the challenge of going to court,” he said, adding that subsequently the Human Rights Law Network, a Delhi-based NGO, helped him a lot. “Their lawyers took up the individual cases that I sent them. I would go through the petitions and medical reports and guide them,” he said.

While the MTP act has been amended, Dr Datar’s judicial activism continues, as he is now challenging the composition of the medical board that decides whether or not a pregnancy can be ended beyond 24 weeks. “The board has a gynaecologist, paediatrician, radiologist/sonologist and other members,” he said. “A paediatrician can give advice about the foetus’s abnormalities, what the child will face after birth and the treatment available. A sonologist can confirm the diagnosis. But it is the gynaecologist who has to advise the woman on MTP. We need more gynaecologists on board who can collectively decide whether MTP is safe for the woman.”

Apart from his judicial activism, which has helped over 336 women in these 14 years, Dr Datar has been visiting schools to educate young girls about their bodies and rights. “The motto is to catch them young and inculcate in them the concept that no one but they have the right to decide about their body,” said Dr Smita about the mission. “It will take time but gradually society’s thought process will change.”