When Sujata Kharat missed her period by 15 days in March, she went to a local gynaecologist in Chembur-s Siddharth Nagar. After being told she was expecting a baby, the 33-year-old mother of two sons decided to terminate the pregnancy. She was prescribed Medical Abortion MA pills. "After medication, I began experiencing cramping and bleeding, which lasted for over 12 days. I knew it wasn-t normal. Something had gone wrong. After another appointment with the doctor, I realised that I-d had an incomplete abortion," homemaker Kharat recalls. Without losing more time, she had to now go for a surgical abortion. But, the nationwide lockdown was in effect. "By end of April, I thought I would be forced to continue with the pregnancy."

According to Ipas Development Foundation IDF, India—a non-profit dedicated to preventing and managing unwanted pregnancies—47 per cent of the estimated 3.9 million abortions that would have likely taken place in India during the first three months of the COVID-19 lockdown [March 25 to June 24] were possibly compromised. A modelling study conducted by Ipas, which concluded in May 2020, states that 1.85 million Indian women could not terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Eighty per cent of these can be attributed to decreased sales of MA drugs at pharmacies. "In our study, we estimated a sharp decrease in the sale of MA drugs. This problem can be attributed to a temporary disruption in the supply chain. While the material may have been with the distributer, there was a problem in the consignment reaching the chemist," says Vinoj Manning, CEO, IDF.