Opposition members within the Lok Sabha on Wednesday attacked the federal government for excluding live-in {couples}, single males and the LGBTQ neighborhood from the purview of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2021, calling the legislation “discriminatory” and “patriarchal”. as attacked.
Congress member Karti P Chidambaram, who initiated the talk on the invoice, mentioned: “This law is not a Hindu law, it is actually a Victorian law.”
He mentions the Mahabharata and the Puranas a number of occasions, saying: “There are many examples of unconventional births in our epics.”
“This legislation doesn’t come from Hindu liberal traditions. This legislation got here from a very regressive, Victorian and colonial mindset. I’ll inform you why. This legislation excludes many individuals as an alternative of becoming a member of it. While I’ve given you so many examples of unconventional births and unconventional unions in our Hindu epics, this legislation permits solely married individuals to have entry to this method. It doesn’t permit LGBTQ individuals entry to this know-how. It doesn’t permit single males entry to this know-how,” Karti Chidambaram said, adding that the bill is “discriminatory”.
Karti mentioned: “This legislation doesn’t take into consideration the brand new realities of India. Of course, these new realities usually are not new realities. These had been in our historical scriptures. The unions that had been all the time there have been suppressed by the colonial mentality. These unions also needs to be offered entry to this know-how. The LGBTQ inhabitants, live-in {couples} and single males also needs to have entry to this know-how in the event that they so want.”
Describing the invoice as patriarchal, Karti mentioned, “It is again the hallmark of this government. A person who is able to donate an egg must be married and have a child who is at least three years old; only then he Can be a giver. A single woman cannot be a giver. Again, this is the pattern of patriarchy.”
“So, don’t ever say that you are a government that is actually propagating Hindu values. Hindu values are liberal values. You are, in fact, propagating a Victorian colonial value,” mentioned Karti, who represents the Sivaganga constituency in Tamil Nadu.
Referring to the Prime Minister’s remarks about cosmetic surgery and proof of Ganesha having an elephant head, Karti mentioned, “This is a government that claims to draw inspiration from our Puranas, our itihas (history) and our epics.” “
He additionally questioned the provisions regarding sustaining confidentiality of donors. “You want Aadhar card for the donor because you want to identify the donor through that Aadhar card. But the donor must be anonymous. What if there is a leakage of data,” he requested.
During the talk on the Bill, the House remained so as and didn’t observe any disturbance.
Supporting the invoice, BJP’s Hina V Gavit mentioned that assisted reproductive know-how has been unregulated within the nation for a very long time.
“Initially, assisted reproductive technology came on humanitarian grounds to help couples who are infertile and cannot have children of their own. But, unfortunately, over time, there has been a lot of commercialization. Hence, we need regulation of the Bill,” mentioned Gavit, who represents the Nandurbar constituency in Maharashtra.
Gavit additionally mentioned that celebrities and the rich “misuse” surrogacy.
“We see that these days a lot of celebrities are using surrogacy to have children and many celebrities who already have biological children are also going for these surrogacy. This bill will definitely ensure that needy people, infertile couples, can avail ART and just because someone has a lot of money and doesn’t want to conceive, he can go for it. I think these things will also be checked with this bill,” Gavit mentioned.
Gavit advised that as an alternative of being a medical practitioner, an eminent gynecologist or an obstetrician needs to be included as one of many board members beneath Section 12 of the Bill.
Dr. Gautam Sigmani Pon of DMK defined the powers conferred on the National and State Boards beneath the Bill.
“As a DMK member I am concerned about the powers of the state…the present government has taken the sole responsibility of regulating the emerging sector. This obsession of this government has become very established now,” mentioned the MP, who represents the Kallakurichi seat in Tamil Nadu.
Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (Barasat, West Bengal) of TMC mentioned that the nation was ready for a legislation on Assisted Reproductive Technology for a very long time as about 60 million individuals within the nation had been affected by infertility. He additionally highlighted the exclusion of single dad and mom and LGBTQ individuals from the purview of the Bill.
“The major exclusion here is the exclusion of single parents, transgender and LGBT couples…they also have the right to be parents…” Dastidar mentioned.
He mentioned the invoice helps huge firms.
“They have come to India, mostly international corporates. It will support them because international corporates, they will be using stupid gullible patients…,” Dastidar mentioned.
“So, the honorable minister ought to take into account the issues I’m talking about and this Bill needs to be modified fully. Have to go test it out.
“The board needs to be manned by individuals who know the topic; the financial institution needs to be fully liquidated except it’s linked to an IVF lab and manned by individuals who actually know the topic, mentioned the MP.
Dr BV Satyavati of YSRCP welcomed the legislation and mentioned that it’ll register all such clinics.
Dr Alok Kumar Suman of JD(U), who represents Gopalganj in Bihar, mentioned the invoice is a crucial step for the welfare of ladies. Suman advised that the price of ART needs to be regulated successfully in order that widespread individuals can benefit from the know-how.
BSP’s Sangeeta Azad (Lalganj, Uttar Pradesh) mentioned that this invoice will likely be an efficient step within the route of stopping unlawful commerce within the subject of surrogacy and eradicating social evils. But he additionally highlighted that the invoice doesn’t permit LGBTQ people to benefit from ART.
“The bill allows the use of ART only by heterosexual married couples and women above the age of marriage, but it excludes single men, gay couples and LGBTQ people and couples from taking advantage of ART. This is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and the right to privacy laid down by the Supreme Court in the Puttaswamy case,” Azad mentioned.
Supriya Sule of NCP (Baramati, Maharashtra) wished to ask the Health Minister how the Surrogacy Bill and the ART Bill would complement one another.
“In addition to {couples} wanting youngsters, there’s a cross-section of single individuals on this nation as we speak who wish to have youngsters, particularly the LGBTQ neighborhood and single fathers… Because of the 2017 adoption rule, single males Can’t undertake a lady baby and since they can not have it, they can not benefit from this invoice. I believe that is one thing we as a society must introspect on,” Sule mentioned.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
