The mandate of the Committee was massive, to assess the status of women in India in all aspects of their lives, keeping in mind the diversities (class, caste, religion, ethnicity, region, abilities, age groups etc.), complexities and paradoxes that prevail in our society.

There is a need to document women's perceptions regarding the quality of their health care, including abortion services, since most studies to date have approached this issue from the viewpoint of service providers, policymakers, or the state (Jesani and Iyer 1995).

This essay advocates a reproductive health care strategy, to revitalize the country's family welfare program. A major shift in focus is needed in the population policy and programs in order to incorporate a gender-sensitive

The issues of equality of access to health care has two related questions - access whom and access to what? They seem to have a simple answer: there should be access to health care services for anyone in need of it.