The voice among the medical fraternity for legalising abortion up to 24th week of pregnancy has actually strengthened, after the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) booked a 65-year-old gynaecologist for performing abortion on a 21-week pregnant woman on April 4.
In India, section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act-1971, does not enable abortion after twenty weeks of pregnancy. The National Commission of Women (NCW) had recommended to the Union healthiness ministry to enable abortions till 24 weeks of pregnancy. Complying with which in 2014, the Ministry of healthiness and Family Welfare department proposed an amendment to the MTP Act. The proposed Act – Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2014 – intended to boost the abortion restriction from the present twenty weeks to 24 weeks.
According to the medical fraternity, rather than punishing the doctor, that need to have actually carried out the procedure in great faith devoid of discovering the gravity of the legal risk she was inviting, politicians need to table the amended MTP Act.
“In the light of proposed amendment also as medical ethics, terminating a pregnancy along with severe abnormality is perfectly justifiable. It is due to the political apathy that the proposed amendment to MTP Act has actually not being tabled and passed in the parliament yet. This scenario is very dangerous for the entire society. Such criminal action is developing much more victims among doctors and patients unnecessarily,” said Dr Nikhil Datar, gynaecologist at the Cloud Nine hospital.
Datar, that is likewise a healthiness rights activist, said if the government had tabled the amendment in court, the Pune medical professional would certainly not have actually been booked. As per the draft law, for which the ministry had sought public comments in 2014, the decision to enable abortion in between twenty and 24 weeks can easily be taken “in great faith” by a healthcare provider if, among others conditions, the pregnancy entails substantial pitfalls to the mother or child, or if it is “alleged by the pregnant woman to have actually been caused by rape”.
In August 2008, a couple from Bhayander – Nikita and Haresh Mehta – had approached the higher court along with a request of an abortion, as the baby had congenital heart defect. At the time, Nikita was 24 weeks pregnant and was not permitted an abortion. 3 weeks later, she went through a miscarriage.
Amit Kharkhanis, the lawyer representing the Mehta case in the Bombay higher Court, said, “Some countries, including the US and the UK, enable termination till 24 weeks. This relocate will certainly surely advice several women. While we were fighting the case in 2008, we had suggested the very same thing in our petition.”
Medical experts in India have actually been demanding that a couple of abnormalities need to be included as a valid need for MTP after twenty weeks to empower the woman to take the decision. “The majority of cardiac anomalies can easily be detected just after about 22 weeks of pregnancy. Thereafter, parents requirement time to talk it out along with their family and friends. This ensures quality life for the unborn child. It is, therefore, crucial to implement the amended MTP law at the earliest,” said Dr Bipin Pandit, gynaecologist and a member of the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC).
Dr Rishma Dhillon-Pai, president-elect of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), said the period in between twenty and 22 weeks available an excellent opportunity to examine for anomalies in foetuses through sonography. “We typically ask a patient to undergo examinations about the 18th week to discover abnormalities. Abroad, data shows this expansion is a boon to a great deal of women,” said Pai.
