Abortion has been legal in India in restricted situations since the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act of 1971, which established an exemption from the criminality of abortion under the Indian Penal Code, 1860.The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act) of 1971 was very significant legislation in India. MTP Act of 1971 removed gender discrimination & stopped malpractices of abortion in favor of the well\u00adbeing of pregnant women. Under the 1971 Act, termination of pregnancy was not legally authorized beyond 20 weeks of gestation, causing considerable grief to women, emphasizing the necessity to raise the maximum limit for termination of pregnancy. The MTP Act, 2021, has come as a refreshing break, expanding the time limit for legal abortions to 24 weeks for specific categories of women and lifting the threshold for abortion in the occurrence of severe foetal abnormalities.<\/p>\n
Significantly, India is the first country to implement a law that offers women and their partners the right to a paid leave after a loss or stillbirth, followed by New Zealand in 2021. More precisely, the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 1961, expands maternity leave to six weeks of paid leave. Even now, countries such as the UK, United States of America, Brazil, and Germany do not allow as much liberty to a pregnant woman as does India.[i]<\/a><\/p>\n The MTP Act as an exemption to Section 312 of the Penal Code, 1860[ii]<\/a> (\u201cIPC\u201d), which criminalises the act of \u201cvoluntarily causing a woman with child to miscarry\u201d except for the purpose of it being carried out in good faith to save the life of the mother\u201d. The MPT Act not decriminalizes medical termination of pregnancy but states specific permissible grounds under which a woman can undergo a medical termination. Under these specified and permissible grounds, a woman can undergo a termination unless the Court dismisses.<\/p>\n The MTP Act of 1971 establishes a gestational limit for abortion at 20 weeks, beyond which abortions may only be done, without a court judgment to the contrary, when the pregnant person’s life is endangered. Even within this restriction, physicians are often afraid to conduct abortions for fear of being investigated and prosecuted.[iii]<\/a><\/p>\n Pratigya Campaign for Gender Equality and Safe Abortion has launched a report assessing the judiciary’s role in access to safe abortion in India in 2019. The study finds that 194 writ petitions have been filed at the Supreme Court and High Courts over the last three years, seeking permission to terminate their pregnancies. Out of the 194 petitions, 21 cases went to Supreme Court, while 173 were filed at various High Courts.[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n All cases petitioned at the Supreme Court were above 20 weeks of gestation, five of which were rape cases and 15 involved cases of foetal abnormalities. The Supreme Court denied five cases and permitted 15 MTP requests. Among the five cases dismissed by the court, three involved foetal abnormalities, where each case had a foetus between 26-28 weeks gestation. Out of the 173 cases before the High Courts in India, MTPs were permitted in 139 cases and denied in 29 cases; the remaining were withdrawn.[v]<\/a><\/p>\n Speaking at the launch of the report, Mr. V.S Chandrashekar, Pratigya Campaign Advisory Group Member, and Chief Executive Officer, Foundation for Reproductive Health Services India, said, “The study clearly shows that women with pregnancies even below 20 weeks gestation are going to the court to seek permission for MTP. These cases clearly defy the provisions of the MTP Act and represent major problems in the access to abortion.”[vi]<\/a><\/p>\n Section 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act of 1971 stated that if a pregnancy of more than 20 weeks needed to be terminated, a registered medical practitioner must consider that the termination is required immediately to safeguard the pregnant woman’s life. Due to the legal threshold of 20 weeks for terminating a pregnancy, situations have been reported in which women have travelled overseas or utilized illicit methods to have abortions, putting their health in danger.<\/p>\n Under this Act, a pregnancy may be terminated up to 20 weeks if there is a considerable danger of physical or mental abnormalities in the child, causing the child to be “severely handicapped” if delivered, and\/or if the continuation of the pregnancy will have adverse emotional and physical repercussions on the mother.<\/p>\n In 2017, a ten-year-old girl was denied an abortion and forced to continue with her pregnancy because of the risks posed to her and her foetus’ life as she was more than 20 weeks pregnant and therefore not allowed to have an abortion under the MTP Act 1971.[vii]<\/a><\/p>\n With the passage of time and advancements in medical technology like as ultrasonography and genomics, the MTP Act of 1971 became out of date and insufficient as a guarantee for the rights of women and their families.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Table: <\/strong>Comparison between MTP Act, 1971 and MTP Amendment Act 2021[viii]<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nWhat is the Need for the Amendment?<\/strong><\/h1>\n