THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- September 17, 2016- Topic 1
The Supreme Court’s order
directing the Centre to ask States to end the OPPRESSIVE practice of sterilising women in large camps is a timely reminder that the country
must urgently adopt a rights-based health policy. Many course correction
measures have been ordered by the court in the Devika Biswas public interest case, and if they are implemented VIGOROUSLY, they can greatly improve women’s welfare. Civil society can effectively
monitor sterilisation activity, if, as the court has directed, the list of
approved doctors at the State and regional levels and members of quality
assurance committees, and details of compensation claims are publicised on the
Internet. At the same time, compensation for losses, including deaths, should
be raised SUBSTANTIALLY. The larger question is that of the FAIRNESS of promoting permanent CONTRACEPTION, often for young women, who are unable
to exercise their reproductive rights due to social and economic factors. Last
year, the Population Division of the UN took note of the extraordinary levels
of sterilisations RESORTED to in India — 65 per cent of all CONTRACEPTIVE methods — and pointed to a potential
mismatch between what is being offered and what women would like, which is to
delay or space out births. Unthinking resort to tubectomies for population
control also ignores the evidence from some developed States in India that
women’s empowerment through education and employment brings down fertility,
without sacrificing choice.
Ensuring the safety of women
who undergo a tubectomy is of immediate concern, and the Centre should give
rule-based authority to the Supreme Court’s directions. A significant number of
women have died due to the procedure during the past three years. Every death
due to family planning surgery is one too many, and the State concerned must be
called to account. In the case of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Kerala,
which did not take the question of mismanagement in STERILISATION camps raised in the petition seriously,
the court has acted decisively and called for monitoring and issue of
appropriate orders by the respective High Courts. Such action is wholly welcome,
because it REINFORCES the idea of the right to health being INSEPARABLE from the right to life. This is the
message that the Centre must take from the judgment, as it works on a national
policy for health. Empowerment of women through full opportunity in education
and employment, and access to all contraception options, should be central to
national policies. Offering financial incentives and subjecting women to
permanent contraceptives is unacceptable.
:::::::::::::Meanings with example and Synonyms:::::::::::::::::
Oppressive: unjustly inflicting hardship and constraint, especially on a minority or
other subordinate group.
Example: An oppressive dictatorship
Synonyms: harsh, cruel, brutal, repressive, tyrannical, tyrannous, iron-fisted
Vigorously: in a way that involves physical strength, effort, or energy; strenuously.
Example: She shook her head vigorously
Synonyms: strenuously, strongly, powerfully, forcefully, energetically
Substantially: to a great or significant extent.
Example: Profits grew substantially
Synonyms: considerably, significantly, to a great/large extent, greatly
Contraception: the deliberate use of artificial methods or other
techniques to prevent pregnancy as a consequence of sexual intercourse.
Example: The only way to have safe sex is to use a reliable barrier
method of contraception such as a condom.
Resorted: turn to and adopt (a strategy or course of action, especially a
disagreeable or undesirable one) so as to resolve a difficult situation.
Example: The duke was prepared to resort to force if negotiation failed
Synonyms: have recourse to, fall back on, turn to, make use of
Contraceptive: a device or drug serving to prevent pregnancy.
Example: At least if we can educate them about contraceptives and protection the
teenage pregnancy rate will fall.
Synonyms: birth control, prophylactic, condom, birth control
pill, the pill
Reinforces: strengthen or support, especially with additional personnel or material.
Example: Paratroopers were sent to reinforce the troops already in the area
Synonyms: augment, increase, add to, supplement, boost, top
up
Inseparable: unable to be separated or treated separately.
Example: Research and higher education seem inseparable
Synonyms: indivisible, indissoluble, inextricable, entangled
