While it is laudable that the Indian government has made the effort to initiate a holistic reproductive health programme, its failure to address issues of sexuality that arise in this context is puzzling.

It is generally believed that criminal law is gender biased. To a certain extent it is true. In the process of its evolution, it appears that the criminal law system has kept 'reasonable -man' in view as its basic unit. This much is evident from the present practice also.

We use data from the 1981 and 1991 censuses of India to examine (a) sex ratios among infants aged under 2, (b) child mortality (q5) by sex, and (c) estimated period sex ratios at birth (SRB) calculated by reverse survival methods, to see whether bias against female children pers

The high female infant mortality rates (Miller, 1985); the practice of female infanticide (Krishnaswamy, 1988); the neglect of female children with regard to access to health services, nutrition, (Sen and Sengupta, 1983 and education (Mankekar, 1985); and the sexual abuse of girls (Bhalerao, 1985

While talking about law and homosexuality, I am reminded of a story of a washerman and his donkey. The donkey refused to move with the heavy bundle of clothes on his back from his house to the pond. The washerman nailed a carrot to a stick, which was tied in front of the animal's mouth.

Women use images of earthen pots breaking, flowers or fruits falling, to symbolize the loss of pregnancy. kachha ghada phoota (UP Rajasthan), phool jhade ( Madhya Pradesh), kaacho padi gayo (Rajasthan), garbha-alasyam (Kerala) are some of the terms used to describe miscarriages.

India can take legitimate pride that it was one of the earliest nations to introduce a population policy, yet fertility control remains a most contentious problem of electoral politics of India in the 1990s.

The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, is a critical piece of legislation in India aimed at addressing and curbing the practice of sex-selective abortions and ensuring the ethical use of prenatal diagnostic technologies.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021, represents a significant update to India's existing abortion laws, reflecting evolving societal attitudes towards reproductive rights and healthcare.