Abortion amendment doesn't go far enough
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act of 2021 recently came into force. The long-awaited amendment, passed earlier this year, raises the upper limit of abortions to 24 weeks from 20 for some categories of women, including survivors of rape. Further, there is no upper limit to terminate a pregnancy in cases of foetal anomalies if a medical board, to be set up by states and Union Territories, clears it.
The amendment is a step in the right direction to ensure more women have access to safe abortions. It comes in the 50th year since the MTP Act was first passed and in the backdrop of developments in the US, where reproductive rights of women are being actively eroded after a Texas law found a way around the landmark Roe V Wade case that guaranteed abortion access to women.
However, the amendment does not go far enough. The law is not inclusive of non-binary or trans persons who may be pregnant and seek an abortion. Significantly, the decision to terminate a pregnancy still does not rest with the woman alone. Rather, it is the doctor - two, if the gestation period is between 20 and 24 weeks - who has the final say in whether or not a woman may have an abortion. This is of grave concern as doctors have been known to charge exorbitant fees for the procedure (as per the National Family Health Survey 2015-16, 52 per cent of abortions were done in private hospitals), deny access to the service on moral grounds or send the woman or child to the courts even if the service can be legally provided.
According to NFHS data, 26 per cent of abortions were claimed to have been performed by the woman herself at home. While the amendment to the law is no doubt welcome, it will be meaningless without commensurate efforts to educate medical professionals on the legal rights of persons in need of abortions. Similarly, states should look at widening access to safe abortions as a way to reduce maternal mortality rates. The law should also not be a landmark by itself, but rather a step towards eventually allowing women the right to decide for themselves whether or not to continue with a pregnancy.