SYLLABUS

GS-2: Issues Relating to the Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education and Human Resources.

Context: In a significant ruling affirming the reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity of women in India, the Supreme Court recently allowed the medical termination of a 30-week-old pregnancy of a minor, which had crossed the 24-week deadline stipulated under the MTP Act. 

More in the News

• The Supreme Court reiterated that reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity of the pregnant person must be given primacy over competing interests, including in advanced gestation cases. 

• Reproductive autonomy is the right to make informed, independent decisions about if, when, and how to have children, free from coercion or discrimination.

• The court observed that once pregnancies cross the 24-week ceiling under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, women may be forced toward unsafe and illegal abortions, posing serious health risks.

• The judgment stressed the need for a more humane, flexible, and rights-based approach to abortion laws that prioritises women’s safety and autonomy.

What is Abortion?

• Abortion refers to the intentional termination of pregnancy before fetal viability, carried out through medication or medical procedures, subject to legal gestational limits and medical indications.

• Abortion is a sensitive and often debated issue. People have different opinions about it based on their values, beliefs, religion and the law.

Legal Provisions for abortion in India

• Until the 1960s, abortion was illegal in India under Section 312 IPC, except when done in good faith to save the woman’s life. 

• The Shantilal Shah Committee examined the issue and recommended liberalising the law, leading to the enactment of the MTP Act, 1971, to allow safe and legal abortions.

• While the MTP Act fixes a ceiling for availing legal abortions, the Supreme Court has allowed termination beyond these limits in exceptional circumstances, including pregnancies arising from non-consensual marital intercourse, by invoking reproductive autonomy, dignity, and health under Article 21.

• In the landmark K.S. Puttaswamy case (2017), the Supreme Court held that reproductive choice forms part of a woman’s right to life, personal liberty, and bodily autonomy under Article 21.

• Sex selective abortions remain illegal under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994.

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP) Act 1971

• As per Section 3 of the MTP Act, the termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks of conception can be undertaken on the advice of one registered medical practitioner.

• In the case of pregnancy between 20 and 24 weeks, abortion is permitted only after two registered medical practitioners opine for it.

• Rule 3B of the MTP Rules formed under the MTP Act permits abortion between 20 to 24 weeks of pregnancy for some categories, including victims of sexual assault or rape, minors, a change in the marital status of a woman during pregnancy, women with physical disabilities or mental illness.

• After 24 weeks, the MTP Act requires medical boards of expert doctors to be set up by the state government in each district, which opine on whether to allow termination of pregnancy in case of substantial foetal abnormality.

• MTP Amendment Act, 2021

• Gestation Limit: Extended to 24 weeks for special categories (rape survivors, minors, etc.).
• Medical Opinion: Abortions up to 20 weeks require one doctor, 20–24 weeks need two.
• Unmarried Women: Allowed abortion if contraceptive fails
• Medical Boards: Review cases beyond 24 weeks for fetal abnormalities.
• Confidentiality: Patient identity must be protected.

Source:
The Hindu