Medical termination of pregnancy act

Highlights of the Bill • The Act regulates the conditions under which a pregnancy may be aborted. The Bill increases the time period within which abortion may be carried out. • Currently, abortion requires the opinion of one doctor if it is done within 12 weeks of conception and two doctors if it is done between 12 and 20 weeks. The Bill allows abortion to be done on the advice of one doctor up to 20 weeks, and two doctors in the case of certain categories of women between 20 and 24 weeks. • The Bill sets up state level Medical Boards to decide if a pregnancy may be terminated after 24 weeks in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities. Key Issues and Analysis • There are differing opinions with regard to allowing abortions. Oneopinion is that terminating a pregnancy is the choice of the pregnant woman, and a part of her reproductive rights. The other is that the state has an obligation to protect life, and hence should provide for the protection of the foetus. Across the world, countries set varying conditions and time limits for allowing abortions, based on foetal health, and risk to the pregnant woman. • Several Writ Petitions have been filed by women seeking permission to abort pregnancies beyond 20-weeks due to foetal abnormalities or rape. The Bill allows abortion after 24 weeks only in cases where a Medical Board diagnoses substantial foetal abnormalities. This implies that for a case requiring abortion due to rape, that exceeds 24-weeks, the only recourse remains t...

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that marked the fall of Roe and the end of federal protections for abortion, Vogue is taking a look at the landscape surrounding reproductive rights . “It was the most twisted feeling, hoping that my daughter wouldn’t have a heartbeat,” says Dani Mathisen, MD, a 26-year-old ob-gyn resident. At the time, Mathisen was 18 weeks along and an anatomy scan had just revealed that the fetus had multiple anatomical defects: problems with the heart, kidneys, spine, and brain. When Mathisen found out her baby would not survive, she was living in Texas, which has some of the most heartbeat is medically accurate, Mathisen says that she knew her “daughter would ultimately die, whether it was in utero or shortly after birth.” However, because the fetus still had a strong heartbeat, her doctor and maternal fetal-medicine specialist were not only unable to provide care, they were “unable to recommend where to go, what to do, or who to call to terminate the pregnancy,” she says. “I turned to Google because I knew no doctor in Texas would talk to me.” Mathisen’s experience is not unique. Though it is difficult to quantify how many women terminate for medical reasons (TFMR), the number who have had to deal with complex situations has almost certainly increased since the fall of Roe. (Approximately Roe, fear of legal consequences). TFMR is always a heartbreaking choice—an experience too often shrouded in Julie, 37, who lives...

The Medical Termination Of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (34 of 1971) Last Updated 30th March, 2021 [act14/139] An Act to provide for the termination of certain pregnancies by registered medical practitioners and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Be it enacted by Parliament in the Twenty-second Year of the Republic of India as follows: LEGISLATIVE HISTORY ▼ • Amended by Act 64 of 2002 • Amended by Act No. 34 of 2019 • Amended by Act No. 8 of 2021 1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act , 1971. (2) It extends to the whole of India (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. FACT SHEET ▼ Enforced on 1.4.1972. 2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (a) guardian means a person having the care of the person of a minor or a "Medical Board" means the Medical Board constituted under sub-section (2C) of section 3 of the Act;] (c) minor means a person who, under the provisions of the Indian Majority Act, 1875 (9 of 1875), is to be deemed not to have attained his majority; (d) registered medical practitioner means a medical practitioner who possesses any recognised medical qualification as defined in clause (h) of section 2 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956), whose name has been entered in a State Medical Register and who has such experience or training in gynaecology and obst...