Samita, a 35-year-old mother of two, lives near Calcutta. Since the birth of her first son 10 years ago, she has taken extreme measures to self-induce abortions on three occasions: per her midwife’s instructions, she inserts a small grapevine stalk into her uterus, which causes heavy bleeding and intense pain. After her most recent attempt, Samita’s pain continued for more than 10 days. Her family took her to the nearest hospital, where doctors gave Samita blood transfusions and heavy doses of antibiotics. Samita’s doctor said that if she had delayed coming in by just one more day, she would have died.