Cabinet eases abortion law for sexual assault victims

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 29

The MTP Amendment Bill-2020, to be tabled in the Budget Session January 31, significantly relaxes abortion conditions for vulnerable women, including victims of sexual violence who can’t abort unwanted foetuses due to time constraints the current law imposes.

Under the 1971 Act, surgical abortion of foetuses beyond 20 weeks is illegal. The amended Bill, however, allows victims of rape and incest; minors; and differently abled and other vulnerable women to abort foetuses with upper gestation age limit of 24 weeks instead of 20 weeks.

In another change, the new Bill scraps the upper gestation age limit for abortion in cases of abnormal foetuses that are incompatible with life and pose a risk to the mother.

The amendment Bill says: “Upper gestation limit will not to apply in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by Medical Board. The composition, functions and other details of Medical Board will be prescribed subsequently in Rules under the Act. Also name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed except to a person authorises in any law for the time being in force.”

The Health Ministry today said the relaxation from 20 to 24 weeks was being made for special categories of women to be defined in the amendments to MTP Rules and would include vulnerable women such as survivors of rape, victims of incest, differently-abled women and minors.

The Bill also proposes the requirement for opinion of one health provider for termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks of gestation (instead of up to 12 weeks as mentioned in the 1971 law) and opinion of two health providers for termination of pregnancy of 20 to 24 weeks of gestation.

The idea behind the law is to ensure dignity, autonomy, confidentiality and justice for women who need to terminate pregnancy.

The new Bill also accepts “failure of contraceptive” as a legal reason for abortion in cases of unmarried women. 

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