On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which raises the upper limit for permitting abortions from 20 weeks to 24 weeks.
The amendment has been proposed on the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, and the bill will be introduced in the next Parliament session.
The gestation limit has been enhanced for ‘special categories of women’, which would include, ‘‘vulnerable women including survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women (like differently-abled women, Minors) etc.’
The bill also proposed that the name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed except to a person authorized in any law for the time being in force.
It is important that abortion laws work towards benefitting women, especially in the case of unwanted pregnancies and/or medical emergencies, including but not limited to foetal abnormalities. You can find out more about the proposed amendments here.