Now Reading: Speaker’s anti-abortion stand clashes with Tamil Nadu Dravidian legacy
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Speaker’s anti-abortion stand clashes with Tamil Nadu Dravidian legacy
Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar spoke against abortion at the fifth National March for Life in Chennai on August 8-9, saying life begins at conception and that he would raise the…
The Story in Brief
Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar spoke against abortion at the fifth National March for Life in Chennai on August 8-9, saying life begins at conception and that he would raise the issue with Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay. This comes as nearly a century ago, Dravidian magazines Kudi Arasu and Paguthi Arivu, founded by Periyar and linked to the Self-Respect Movement, debated reproductive freedom.
The magazines did not take a single position. They distinguished between contraception and abortion, arguing for birth control to liberate women from repeated pregnancies. A 1930 article called contraception essential for 'women's liberation and self-sovereignty'. By 1932, a series by Sami Chidambaranar rejected abortion as harmful but said it should not be a legal offence for a woman with three children. Women activists like S Neelavathi also contributed.
The Indian Opinion
Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar calls abortion a sin at a Christian march, but leaves out the Dravidian magazines that fought for a woman's right to choose a century ago. One-sided narratives on both sides miss the nuance: Periyar's Kudi Arasu opposed abortion as harmful yet demanded it be legal after three children, and made freedom, not population control, the core issue. The real test is whether Prabhakar's remarks will sway any policy, or just remain a speech.
Source: thenewsminute.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
