"I perform abortion on atleast five-eight unmarried girls everyday," Dr.Niranjan Bhavsar, who runs the Deccan centre, an abortion clinic at Jungli Maharaj Road, makes the startling revelation. "There is a steep rise in this figure. When I started in '86, the number would never cross one abortion in two to three days," relates the abortionist who can hardly spare a minute after he positions his patients on the stirrups at one in the afternoon and continue the brisk womb operations till five in the evening. It is not an easy task, but he derives his motivation from from relieving young girls of load that they are carrying in their swelling stomachs. Apart from the guilt pangs, it is the tension that eats them up them raw. "Though I charge only Rs 200/- per abortion as compared to Rs 1000/- or Rs 2000/- in big nursing homes, I am approached by girls of all ages and classes. Girls from Fergusson, Symbiosis and Wadia come to me in equal number as from the lower middle class," Dr. Bhavsar matter of factly discloses the uncomfortable statistics.

"Out of ten patients three are from lower cast, two belong to affluent families, while the rest belong from burgeoning middle class families"discloses Dr.Bhavsar, ministering to his right hand which clutches the scalpel through the day. With the changing times, we must also change." Dr. Gupte contends, With an irrepressible urge to taste the forbidden fruit, the best that can be done is to educate the youth. There should be counseling centre attached to all private hospitals, govt. or private where young girls and boys can walk in and freely ask questions with looking over their shoulder. This is very important since pregnancy is caused mainly due to ignorance about the birth control measures.!"

He believes, that the strong feeling guilt can also be countered by the simple logic that the baby in the womb, is just mass of cells! Dr. Bhavsar tugs at reason more harshly, "considering millions of sperms are killed, though each has the ability to cause progeny, I categorically ask my patients to treat this too, the same way."

Yet there are cases where the girls are more blasé. "They hear from their friends how fast and easy it is now. So they don’t mind coming back for repeated abortions. An airhostess has come to me as many as ten times for abortions! What can I say, when a gyanaecologist who runs a nursing home herself has undergone abortions thrice over?" questions Dr. Bhavsar pointedly. Dr. Meera Paranjpe who doesn’t approve of cleaning the womb more than one time, is quite sore about the younger generations attitude towards casual sex. Though these college girls know everything, they are extremely careless. I ask them to take pills or have copper-T inserted. In this cultural turmoil, it is hard to believe that young boys and girls must be restricted to only one partner. It really exposes them to the higher risk of AIDS. Morever, repeated abortions itself is not advisable. However remote chances maybe, but an abortion conducted under unhygienic conditions may lead to uterus getting punctured or infection leading to tube blockades, rendering them to a infertile for the rest of their lives.. But after Medical termination of Pregnancy (MTP), When I ask them to back for copper-T to be inserted, they don’t bother. But they will be back again after six months, for the next abortion."

There are many abortion centres that have mushroomed after the Medical Termination of Pregnancy act passed in 1972, legalizing abortion. "For some of them, its just matter of making a fast buck. Like there are clinics where they do about 150 abortions a day! They are less expensive as they do not use anesthesia and can actually finish the job in ten minutes. But with patient's queuing up, some doctors may not even bother to change the instruments or sterilize it. Even after the abortion it is important to be told about the post abortive care which includes not having sex for 2-3 months and having a checkup!"