Parliament Passes Bill To Raise Upper Limit For Abortions To 24 Weeks In Special Cases

At present, the upper limit for abortion in India is 20 weeks. The women seeking to terminate the pregnancy beyond 20 weeks have to face the cumbersome legal recourse.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020. In this bill, provision has been made to increase the sanctioned limit of abortion to 24 weeks.

News agency PTI reported that Parliament has passed bill to raise upper limit for permitting abortions to 24 weeks in special cases. The newly proposed bill comes as an amendment to Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Parliament passes bill to raise upper limit for permitting abortions to 24 weeks in special cases</p>&mdash; Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) <a href="https://twitter.com/PTI_News/status/1371795344141348877?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>March 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

At present, the upper limit for abortion in India is 20 weeks. The women seeking to terminate the pregnancy beyond 20 weeks have to face the cumbersome legal recourse.

During the proceedings, P. Wilson of DMK as reported by publication The Hindu, noted that the woman should have access to legal consultation and the medical board too should have more women representatives but there is a shortage of doctors in rural community health centres.

Meanwhile, Ashok Siddharth of BSP said that women should have the right to terminate pregnancy, especially if the pregnancy becomes a threat to her own life. Speaking of the bill, Ashok stated that  "Women who work in govt and non-govt jobs they should get leave with pay since a termination at six months can be as painful as a full term pregnancy. In rural areas, to get opinion of more than one doctor."

The law in aimed to help the rape victims, ill and under-age women to terminate the unwanted pregnancy lawfully. It also proposes not to reveal the name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated. However, the extension of upper limit for abortions will not be applicable in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by Medical Board.