PILL SCARCITY & PERILS

While there is a worry of ban on over-thecounter emergency contraceptive pills, people share their difficulties in finding these drugs in pharmacies

- ARCHITA RAGHU

FROM purchasing pads hastily wrapped in black plastic covers, being told to cover up with a dupatta to peeking over one's shoulders in dark lanes, repression of sexual desires to the pressure to conceive a woman's life is punctuated by precarity and control. Women's liberation is linked with reproductive rights and the glaring gap can be seen in any newspaper as it teems with stories of sexual assault Adivasi women giving birth on a road while enroute a hospital miles away, and crying girl children found in dumpsters.

In the 1960s, the famous slogan "My body, my choice" surfaced and was graffitied on walls, scribbled on posters, and hollered on streets as women fought for autonomy.

Today, across the world, this fight continues as these words crumble and vanish when it comes to everyday reality.

"Others advocate birth control with a view of preserving the health of women and conserving family property; but we advocate it for the liberation of women," wrote Thanthai Peiyar. Yet, in Periyar's Dravidian state, the notso-secret shadow ban on emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) reigns. Introduced in the 2000s in India, these morning-after pills prevent a pregnancy, taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. While the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) permits the sale of 0.75mg of Levonorgestrel, an ECP, to be sold without a prescription, most women find it hard to find them in pharmacies.

In pursuit of this pill, Adithi*drove 18-odd kilometers with a friend from Anna Nagar to Adyar, visiting all pharmacies, from the small family-run ones to larger franchises. "I had to go to around over 10 medical stores at night to find one in Adyar that kept i-pills finally. All of the other ones either said they don't keep it at the store, it was temporarily out of stock," says the marketing assistant manager.

She adds she faced the brunt of judgemental looks as well.