Rajya Sabha passes bill to allow abortion up to 24 weeks
Harsh Vardhan moved the MTP(Amendment) Bill 2020 which was passed by voice vote. The bill also ensures that women get access to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian grounds.
The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the bill that allows abortion up to 24 weeks “for special categories of women”, from the existing 20 weeks gestation period.
“The bill will protect the dignity and rights of women,” tweeted Union health minister Harsh Vardhan following the passing of the bill.
The health minister moved The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020 in the upper house which was passed by voice vote. The bill also ensures that women get access to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian grounds.
“The bill was drafted after extensive expert consultation involving all stakeholders such as gynaecologist association, related NGOs, Indian Medical Association etc. Group of ministers chaired by Nitin Gadkari, and ethics committee was also consulted, and only after elaborate discussion the bill took shape. The bill was also discussed in great detail in Lok Sabha before being passed unanimously,” said Harsh Vardhan in Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha passed the bill last year.
The bill seeks to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. It provides for enhancing the upper gestation limit from 20 to 24 weeks for special categories of women, but does not specify the category. The bill leaves the categories to be defined by the states in the amendments to the MTP rules and includes survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women like differently-abled women and minors.
Currently, abortion requires the opinion of one doctor if it is done within 12 weeks of conception and two doctors if it is done between 12 and 20 weeks. The bill allows abortion to be done on the advice of one doctor up to 20 weeks, and two doctors in the case of certain categories of women between 20 and 24 weeks.
A section of members demanded the bill be sent to a select committee of the upper house but the demand was defeated by a voice vote.
Experts say there was a much-needed change in the abortion law. “...Many a times you get pregnancies with severe congenital abnormalities but the gestation period is over 20 weeks, so we cannot abort even if know the baby will not be healthy. Also, because sometimes the level to scan is done only at 20 weeks and by the time abnormality is known, the permitted limit to abort is already crossed. It is also safe to abort till 24 weeks...,” said Dr Anuradha Kapur, senior director and head of unit, Institute of obstetrics and gynaecology, Max Healthcare.
The bill also sets up state level medical boards to decide if a pregnancy is to be terminated after 24 weeks in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities.