For the last 50 years, abortion has been legal in India under various circumstances, following the enactment of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 1971. In 2003, the Act was amended to allow women access to safe and legal abortion services. On the advice of doctors, all women can terminate their pregnancy up to 20 weeks. Since 2020, special categories such as survivors of sexual abuse, minors, rape victims, incest, and disabled women have been allowed to seek termination up to 24 weeks.
“This is a major setback for the movement to protect women’s sexual and reproductive health rights,” said Poonam Muttreja, executive director of Population of India. “Given the global influence of the US, this is likely to stigmatise reproductive health worldwide. This is a full attack on women’s rights over their own bodies, and women all over the world should be concerned.”
Many doctors however feel the ruling will not have much impact on India.
Gynecologist Swati Singh of Safdarjung Hospital said the debate does not mean much for the country as abortion has always been legal in India. It has never been a political issue and although there have been discussions on fertility rates and population control, there has never been a demand in any state to ban or restrict abortions, she said.
“Yes, the medical termination of a pregnancy is still not provided on request here, but there is no legal opinion sought either. Women are not asked to seek permissions from courts as time runs out on them, like we have seen in other countries,” she said.
“What I see here are essential medical safeguards so that a woman’s life is not put at risk. A person with a very low heamoglobin count should not undergo an abortion. The new laws also allow no limit for gestational age in case of fetal abnormalities, mainly to address maternal mortality and morbidity arising from unsafe abortions.”
Tripat Choudhary, obstetrician gynecologist,
La-Femme, New Delhi, said India has liberal abortion laws, and they have only become more so with the most recent amendment.
“The context in India is different. In my long career I have not seen anyone objecting to the laws,” Choudhary said. “The patients and families who go through it certainly suffer through guilt, but at least in most of them, they don’t see it as religiously binding to not allow an abortion. Also, abortion is such a private matter in this country. It will perhaps take us a long time to talk about it openly, despite the liberal laws.”
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