The Rajya Sabha on 16.03.2021 has issued the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The proposed Bill seeks the safety and well-being of women and will enlarge the ambit and access of women to safe and legal abortion without compromising on safety and quality of care. The proposal will also ensure dignity, autonomy, confidentiality and justice for women who need to terminate pregnancy. The amendment, inter alia, provides for:
- Requirement of opinion of one registered medical practitioner for termination of pregnancy up to twenty weeks of gestation;
- Requirement of opinion of two registered medical practitioners for termination of pregnancy of twenty to twenty-four weeks of gestation;
- Enhancing the upper gestation limit from twenty to twenty-four weeks for such category of woman as may be prescribed by rules in this behalf;
- Non applicability of the provisions relating to the length of pregnancy in cases where the termination of pregnancy is necessitated by the diagnosis of any of the substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by a Medical Board;
- Protection of privacy of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated.
