Supreme Court said that we cannot kill child and need to balance out right of unborn child

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitutional

Context: Supreme Court said that we cannot kill child and need to balance out right of unborn child

More about the news:

The Supreme Court deliberated on a woman’s request for a Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP).
The judges emphasized the need to respect a woman’s rights but also balance them with the rights of the unborn child.
They discussed the ethical dilemma of terminating a pregnancy at 26 weeks, considering the potential risks to the child’s health.
The court urged the woman to consider waiting for a few more weeks for the child’s better chances of being healthy and offered State care if needed.

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 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.