‘Hospitals need to follow SC ruling on late abortion’

A 24-year-old woman – who underwent an abortion in the 23rd week of pregnancy after getting permission from the Bombay high court – appealed to the Centre to not discriminate between women, and allow single women to abort after 20 weeks.

Mumbai: A fortnight after a 24-year-old single woman from Andheri underwent an abortion in the 23rd week of pregnancy after getting permission from the Bombay high court, she has appealed to the Centre to not discriminate between women, and allow single women to abort after 20 weeks.

Increasing the permissible abortion term from 20 weeks to 24 weeks was first suggested in the amendments proposed to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 2014. Cabinet approval to increase the term was done in January 2020, it was passed in the Lok Sabha in March 2020 and in the Rajya Sabha in March 2021. It came into effect through a gazette issued in September 2021. (Getty Images)

Increasing the permissible abortion term from 20 weeks to 24 weeks was first suggested in the amendments proposed to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 2014. Cabinet approval to increase the term was done in January 2020, it was passed in the Lok Sabha in March 2020 and in the Rajya Sabha in March 2021. It came into effect through a gazette issued in September 2021.

The amended act has six categories that allow MTP from 20 weeks to 24 weeks. These include pregnant woman who face a risk to their life, survivors of sexual assault, minors, widows or divorcees, women with disabilities, with a malformed foetus or women stuck in humanitarian emergencies.

A September 2022 Supreme Court ruling extended the Act to include trans persons, unmarried women in consensual relationships and survivors of marital rape. It also said that the different treatment accorded to married and unmarried women in terms of the permissible legal term of abortion was discriminatory.

The Andheri resident said that did not suspect she had conceived since she and her partner used contraceptives, besides which she also had a problem of irregular periods. “In the first week of December, I had a stomach ache, for which I went to a local dispensary. The doctor advised me to do a sonography. I was shocked when I came to know that I was 20 weeks pregnant,” she said.

The woman first went to Wadia Maternity Hospital at Parel for the abortion. “I was admitted and after three days of tests, they said they couldn’t go ahead with the abortion, as I had crossed the 20-week limit and did not qualify to get the abortion done under the amended MTP act,” she said.

The woman then approached Dr Nikhil Datar, the gynaecologist whose 14-year crusade pushed the Union cabinet in 2020 to upgrade an archaic law and raise the upper limit for abortion from 20 weeks to 24 weeks. With guidance from him, she filed a petition in the Bombay high court through advocate Aditi Saxena.

“The HC thought that the doctors had failed to understand the Supreme Court judgment and asked me to visit another hospital. However, JJ Hospital too refused and I had to re-approach the court. It then asked the government authority to speak to JJ Hospital, and I was sent back to the hospital where I got the abortion done on December 27,” she said.

The woman said the last one month had been an ordeal and she did not want any woman to go through the same struggle. “My partner had to take leave to accompany me,” she said, adding that though the couple did plan to get married, they had not planned it yet.

While the woman’s MTP did happen, Dr Datar said the point was that though the Supreme Court’s September 2022 judgement was progressive, until rules were framed in accordance with it, women would have to keep going to court, and their suffering would get prolonged.

Dr Datar, who has filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the current MTP (Amendment) Rules, 2021, said that when MTP was safe and it was agreed in principle that abortion could be done till 24 weeks, there should not be any categories. “Also, you cannot expect doctors to read and understand the judgement and draw inferences,” he said. “Even if the gynaecologist understands, the medical officer might not and might file a case. We therefore need changes to be made in the law.”

Dr Sudeshna Ray, obstetrician and gynaecologist practising in South Mumbai hospitals agreed with Dr Datar that MTP between 20 weeks to 24 weeks should not have categories. “As long as the abortion is done by a registered practitioner in a registered place, MTP between 20 weeks to 24 weeks should be allowed,” she said. “However, it should not be done at a place where emergency cases cannot be handled.”