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Bill for extending abortion deadline to 24 weeks presented in Lok Sabha
The bill also proposes that the opinion of one doctor should be enough for termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks of gestation, and two doctors for termination between 20 and 24 weeks of gestation.
A bill that seeks to extend the legal deadline for permitting abortions for “special categories of women” was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The proposed extension of the upper limit is from the current 20 to 24 weeks for “vulnerable women” such as differently abled, minors, rape survivors and victims of incest.
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan introduced the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 amid vehement protests by opposition members against the central government over the Delhi violence that has claimed 47 lives.
The bill also proposes that the opinion of one doctor should be enough for termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks of gestation, and two doctors for termination between 20 and 24 weeks of gestation.The government’s aim to increase the upper limit is to ensure safe termination of pregnancies, and also give women reproductive rights over their bodies.
The new amendments specify that the name and other details of a woman who underwent an abortion shall not be revealed, except to an authorised person. Currently, cases in which the pregnancy is beyond 20 weeks go to court and are decided on a case-by-case basis.
The Cabinet gave its nod to the bill on January 29.
In 2017, the Supreme Court allowed a 13-year-old girl in Mumbai to abort at 32 weeks. The exceptions will continue to happen even after the amendment, but the upper limit of 24 weeks will mean that fewer cases go to court. Experts in the field had always been in favour of increasing the age limit for conducting medical termination of pregnancy. “It will help save many precious lives. It is a much required change in the law,” said a senior gynaecologist at New Delhi’s All India Institute for Medical Sciences.
“The scans to detect congenital abnormality are done usually between 18 and 20 weeks that give us very little time to plan the abortion. Sometimes women come to us late and even if 20 weeks are over by a day, we can’t legally terminate a pregnancy,” said Dr Anuradha Kapur, director- institute of obstetrics and gynaecology, Max Super Specialty Hospital.
