‘No dilution in amendment, abortion limit to be 24 weeks’
DESPITE A BAN ON SEX SELECTION AND DETERMINATION, INDIA’S CHILD SEX RATIO HAS BEEN STEADILY DECLINING
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2014, which proposes to increase the upper limit of legal abortion from 20 to 24 weeks, will not be “diluted” to restrict women from seeking safe abortions, the health ministry said.
Talks about the bill being diluted began after the Prime Minister’s Office sent the final draft back to the health ministry asking for “more stringent” measures against sex-selective abortion banned under the PreConception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, after 19 female foetuses were found near the clinic of a homeopathy practitioner in the Sangli district of Maharashtra in March earlier this year.
The key changes proposed in the new MTP Bill are relaxing the upper limit of legal abortion from 20 to 24 weeks; widening the provider base to train auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), nurses, and ayurveda, homeopathy and Unani practitioners to perform early-stage abortions; and removing the need to seek a second opinion from a doctor for second trimester pregnancies.
With the Supreme Court also ruling against abortions in late stages of pregnancy, the fear is the government won’t allow latestage abortions by health practitioners other than clinicians.
“There is no question of dilution. The MTP (Amendment) Bill is back with the health ministry and discussions have started on stringent control of sex-selective abortion . We’ll be redoing the note and sending it back (to the PMO),” said Union health secretary CK Mishra.
The proposed amendments are being keenly tracked following several girls and women, many of them rape survivors, moving court to be allowed to abort after crossing the legal upper limit of 20 weeks.
Despite a ban on sex selection and determination, India’s child sex ratio has been steadily declining, from 945 girls/1,000 boys in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and 919 in 2011, as per the Census data.
“Though both Acts regulate abortion, the two are completely different. PNDT is a regulatory Act to prevent misuse, while the MTP Act focuses on women’s rights and safety.
Both are strong Acts, but as for all laws, implementation is the key,” said a health ministry official who did not want to be named.
“There was need to amend the 1971 MTP Act because new techniques have made abortion safe even in late stages of pregnancy,” the official added.
“Comprehensive MTP amendments must be passed by Parliament to provide early and safe abortion, remove barriers to access and enable those in vulnerable situations to exercise their rights,” said Vinoj Manning, executive director, Ipas Development Foundation, an NGO that works to increase access to safe abortion services.