ABORTION LAW IN INDIA

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Recently a 25 years old pregnant woman moved to the Supreme Court to allow abortion after the Delhi High Court declined her request last week.
She has challenged the Medical termination of pregnancy rules 2003, which allows only specific categories of women for termination of pregnancy between 20 and 24 weeks.

Abortions law in India

In the 1960s, the Union government constituted Shantilal Shah Committee to prepare a draft for the legalisation of abortion in India.
In 1971, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act was enacted to reduce maternal mortality due to unsafe abortions.
- It set an upper limit of the gestation period to which a woman can seek a medical abortion to 20 weeks.
- Abortion is to be performed only by doctors with specialisation in gynaecology or obstetrics.
Under section 312 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a person who “voluntarily causes a woman with child to miscarry” will be jailed for up to 3 years or fine or both.
- The only exception from punishment is when it was done to save the life of the pregnant woman.
The MTP Act was amended in 2003 to allow the use of the abortion medicine misoprostol, to medically terminate a pregnancy for up to 7 weeks.
The MTP Act was again amended in 2021, it increased the upper limit of the gestation period to which a woman can seek a medical abortion to 24 weeks from 20 weeks permitted in the 1971 Act. But the new upper limit can only be applied in specific cases.
- Abortion up to 20 weeks of gestational age can be done after the opinion of a single registered medical practitioner.
- From 20 weeks up to 24 weeks, the opinion of two registered medical practitioners is required.
Under the 2021 amendment Act, medical termination of pregnancy is permitted if it is based on medical opinion and fulfil at least one of the following reasons;
- If the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman.
- If pregnancy results in any injury to the woman’s physical or mental health.
- If f unborn child suffers from a serious physical or mental abnormality.
The pregnancy can be terminated up to 24 weeks of gestational age under any of these conditions;
- If the woman is either a survivor of sexual assault or rape.
- If she is a minor.
- If her marital status has changed during the ongoing pregnancy (widowhood or divorce).
- If she has major physical disabilities or is mentally ill.
- If foetal malformation was incompatible with life or after birth, it would be seriously handicapped.
If the pregnancy has to be terminated beyond the 24-week gestational age, it can only be done on the grounds of foetal abnormalities and only after clearance from a four-member Medical Board.
In the K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India and other cases, the Supreme Court had held that the decision taken by a pregnant person related to pregnancy is part of her right to privacy under article 21.

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Concern

According to the Lancet study, 6 million abortions were conducted every year in India.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s 2019-20 report indicates that there is a 70% shortage of obstetrician-gynaecologists in India.
As the law does not permit abortion at will, it pushes women to adopt unsafe, illegal and dangerous ways of abortions.
According to a study, every year more than 8,00,000 unsafe and illegal abortions are performed in India and many of them result in maternal mortality.