The number of sex-selec­tive abortions is steadily increasing in Kavre, a dis­trict adjacent to Kathmandu. Most of these abortions are requested by unmarried women between the ages of 18 and 30. According to the Kavre Dis­trict Health Office (DHO), in the fiscal year 2015-2016, there were 1,256 women who had legal abortions. By the follow­ing fiscal, the number rose to 1,528. There are 15 health offices in Kavre that are autho­rized to provide abortion ser­vices. Abortion rates in the district are rising because of a number of reasons, such as the lack of sex education, the misuse of social media and the desire for a son.

 "I didn’t want to abort but was forced to after a video x-ray revealed that I was carrying a female fetus" Radhika Basnet, A 29-year resident of Bhumlu

“Some health workers may perform abortions secretly,” says Dr. Nand Raj Awasthi, Chief of Kavre DHO. “But our monitoring hasn’t found such cases. They don’t get revealed because unauthorized abor­tions are carried out privately by some doctors, medical workers or even by quacks.”

The law allows abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. But sex-selec­tive abortions are illegal. “We take action against those who ask for or perform sex-selective abortions,” claims Dr. Awasthi.

Some medical centers and doctors charge exor­bitant rates to carry out sex-selective abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Some claim that absence of regu­lar monitoring has led to an increase in the number of such cases. A medical center oper­ator corroborated this claim, saying, “There are many couples who come to my center asking for such abor­tions. But we don’t perform them. If the government inves­tigates this matter, many hos­pitals and medical centers will be implicated.”

Radhika Basnet, a 29-year resident of Bhumlu rural municipality, laments that she has had to abort her pregnancy twice under pres­sure from her husband and family. “I didn’t want it but was forced to after a video x-ray revealed that I was car­rying a female fetus. I paid Rs 9,000 to a medical center for the service.”

Unsafe, dangerous

A number of doctors claim that the use of contraceptives among adolescents is also on the rise. “Youngsters are tak­ing contraceptive pills to avoid pregnancy,” says Dr Awasthi. “But they are not risk-free. Excessive use of these pills can cause uterine cancer and heavy bleeding. Women who rely only on contraceptive pills are also at a high risk of contracting sexually-transmit­ted diseases as well.”

Medical store operators report that among the vari­ous methods of family plan­ning, the contraceptive pill sells the most. A medical store operator in Banepa says that many young people also buy the emergency contraceptive pill (also known as the morn­ing-after pill) at an interval of a week. High school and college students are the ones who buy these pills the most.

Because contraceptive pills are easier to use than other methods of family planning, they are preferred by women. They are also easily available, even in paan shops and hotels, for as little as Rs 80. The use of contraceptives such as Econ, I-pill, Unwanted, MTP Pregnot and MT pills is common.