The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a Bill to extend the upper limit for permitting abortions from 20 weeks to 24 under special circumstances.
The “special categories of women” include rape survivors, victims of incest, the differently abled and minors, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said moving the Bill.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which seeks to amend the MTP Act, 1971, was passed by a voice vote after a debate that lasted two-and-a-half hours. Though Opposition members had moved amendments, they were defeated.
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of the Trinamool called the Bill a step in the right direction and offered several suggestions. She said that an anomalous foetus could be identified by a ultrasound scan within 16 to 18 weeks instead of waiting for 24 weeks.
Ritesh Pandey of the BSP and Amol R. Kolhe said abortion should be considered a fundamental right of a woman.
Opposing the Bill, Dean Kuriakose of the Congress said unrestricted abortions should not be encouraged as “abortions are a crime against humanity”.
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P. Raveendranath Kumar of the AIADMK urged the Minister to increase the number of medical college seats in view of the low number of gynaecologists.
Unsafe abortions were a major reason for mortality of pregnant women, he added.
