A day after allowing termination of 25-week-old pregnancy, Supreme Court puts abortion on hold

Subject :Polity

Section: Legislation in news

Context: A day after allowing termination of 25-week-old pregnancy, Supreme Court puts abortion on hold

More about the news:

The Supreme Court of India has asked the All India Institute of Medical Sciences authorities to temporarily halt a woman’s 25-week pregnancy termination, one day after permitting the procedure.
AIIMS doctors raised concerns about the fetus being currently viable, indicating a strong possibility of survival.
They inquired whether a feticide procedure, stopping the fetal heart, can be performed before termination.
The doctors emphasized the potential challenges and consequences of a preterm delivery, including the child’s quality of life, and the need for clear adoption procedures.
The Supreme Court has requested the Centre to file a formal application for the recall of the previous order.

What are the abortion law in India:

Abortion was initially illegal in India, resulting in imprisonment or fines under Section 312 of the Indian Penal Code.
To address this, the Shantilal Shah Committee was formed in the 1964. to assess the necessity of abortion regulations.
This led to the introduction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 1971, legalizing and regulating abortions.
Now abortions in India are regulated by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971.
Under the law section 3 of the MTP Act 1971, the doctor can perform an abortion in the following conditions:
- If the pregnancy would be harmful to the life of the patient or affects her physical or mental health. The doctor will need to consider the circumstances of the patient to figure out if the pregnancy will harm her mental health, on a case to case basis.
- If there is a good chance that the child would suffer from physical or mental abnormalities which would leave him or her seriously handicapped.
- If pregnancy occurred as a result of a failure of contraception only applicable to married women.
- If pregnancy is a result of sexual assault or rape.

Condition for termination of pregnancy:

If the pregnancy has not exceeded 12 weeks, only one doctor is needed to sign-off.
If the pregnancy has exceeded 12 weeks and is below 24 weeks, two doctors are needed.
The gestation period does not matter if a doctor feels that an immediate abortion must be conducted to save the life of the patient.
The doctor who determines if it is necessary to perform an abortion and performs it needs to be a ‘registered medical practitioner’ under the law.
In January 2020, the Union Cabinet approved amendments to the MTP Act, allowing women to seek abortions as part of reproductive rights and gender justice.
The amendment raised the upper limit of MTP from 20 weeks to 24 weeks for women including rape survivors, victims of incest, differently-abled women and minors.