The government has extended the upper limit for permitting abortions to 24 weeks, from the current 20 weeks. The Cabinet on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. The Bill will be introduced in the upcoming Parliament session.
Talking about this, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said: “In a progressive reform and giving reproductive rights to women, the limit of 20 weeks of medical termination of pregnancy has been increased to 24 weeks. This would ensure safe termination and give women reproductive rights over their bodies.”
“This is important because in first five months there are cases where the girl concerned doesn’t realise and has to go to court,” the minister added, saying that this was a demand from a section of women and, doctors. In order to terminate pregnancy at 24 weeks, a girl would need a nod from two registered doctors; it is mandatory that one of them is a government doctor.
“This change in law is helpful for those who are disabled or are having some medical issues,” said Dr Neelam Singh, a gynaecologist. She felt it is important that people abide by these laws. “Talking about Uttar Pradesh, 52% of abortions happen illegally and are not done safely. The doctors who perform these surgeries are unregistered doctors. No one visits these centres.”
When we spoke to Guddi Devi, 40, who lives 50 kms from Lucknow, she said: “I have never undergone any abortion. I have eight kids. I lost seven of my kids after I took pills. I never went to any hospital.”
This is the story of many women in India.
When contacted, Renu Mishra, a lawyer with Aali, an organisation that advises women in matter of law, said: “If there are no medical complications, it’s a good move. It happens many times that a lot of time is wasted in seeking permission from the court. Because of this, rape survivors and minors are not able to terminate their pregnancy” It’s also important that girls are treated free of cost”
“Our daughter was five-month pregnant when we came to know about her pregnancy. It took us long to file an FIR. No doctors were willing to take up her case,” said mother of Nikita (name changed). Nikita, who lives in Pisava block in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, was raped on August 14, 2017. One of her neighbours raped her. Nikita, who is deaf and mute, is now a mother of two-year-old child.
“This law is of no use to us now. It’s risky to abort a child at 24 weeks. If something happens to a girl, who is going to take responsibility? These laws change daily, but who follows up?” asked Nikita’s mother.
Archana Singh, who heads the Asha Jyoti Kendra in Lucknow, said: “There are many cases of unwanted pregnancies. The girl and the child, both suffer. This change is a respite for all such girls.”
Just like Nikita, Neha (name changed) was raped when she was 12 and got pregnant. She is now a mother. “Initially, when we took her to a doctor, they refused to abort the child. We didn’t want our daughter to be a mother at such a young age.”
The news comes about four months after the Centre told the Supreme Court that the right to reproductive autonomy did not outweigh State’s interest in protecting the life of a foetus and the 20-week limit could not be extended in a blanket manner.
In September, responding to a plea that challenged the constitutional validity a law that fixed 20 weeks as the ceiling for an abortion, the Centre said the State was morally and duty-bound, as the guardian of its citizens, to safeguard the life of a foetus in the womb after it attains the stage of viability.
The new law recognises failure of contraceptive” as a lawful reason for abortion, including for unmarried women. This will make it easier for single women to safely and legally terminate unwanted pregnancy. Currently, the law recognises “failure of contraceptive” and “unplanned pregnancy” as legal reasons for abortion only in case of married women. The law says while for minors, written consent from parents is required, unmarried women can’t cite contraceptive failure as a reason for abortion.
The proposed amendment had included extending the gestation period from current 20 weeks to 24 weeks for special categories which may include single women with unwanted pregnancy, apart from disabled and other vulnerable women.
The other proposed amendments to the law included allowing abortion any time during pregnancy for foetal abnormality, which can’t be detected during the 20-week gestation period. Currently, the law allows medical abortion only till 20 weeks of pregnancy.
