Siddhartha Sharma
s/o
Sanjay Sharma
LLOYD LAW COLLEGE
B.A.L.L.B. 1st year section-D
December 30, 2022
Abstract : Abortion in India
ABORTION IN INDIA
Introduction
An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It's also sometimes known as a termination of
pregnancy. The pregnancy is ended either by taking medicines or having a surgical procedure. In
almost all cases abortions are carried out and can only be carried out before the embryo is 20
weeks old but they can rarely be carried out after 24 weeks in very limited circumstances – for
example, if the mother's life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability.
Abortions are safer the earlier they're carried out. Getting advice early on gives more time to
make a decision if the parents are unsure. The decision to seek abortion is the mother's alone, no
one else has a say on it and if the mother wants her details can be required to keep confidential
by law. Abortion can be carried out medically ( by taking pills) and also surgically ( by
performing surgery and removing the pregnancy physically). Having an abortion does not affect
a women's chances of becoming pregnant again and having normal pregnancies in the future.
Conditions needed to be met for abortion
It is possible for a women to get an abortion under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act,
1971 if your pregnancy is under 20 weeks. However, it is subject to several conditions and your
ability to get an abortion will depend on the opinion of the doctor. The law requires the doctor to
assess if these conditions are fulfilled – only then are they legally allowed to perform an
abortion. Conducting an abortion without fulfilling the conditions is considered a crime.
Under the law (section 3 of The medical termination of pregnancy Act 1971), the doctor
can perform an abortion in the following situations:
* if the pregnancy would be harmful to your life or physical or mental health. The doctor will
need to consider your circumstances to figure out if the pregnancy will harm that women's
mental health. They also need to look at the mother's future (as a reasonable person would) to
figure out the effects of the pregnancy.
* if there is good chance that the child would suffer from physical or mental abnormalities which
would leave him or her seriously handicapped.
* If the pregnancy has not exceeded 12 weeks (first trimester), only one doctor needs to be
satisfied that the conditions have been fulfilled.
* If the pregnancy has exceeded 12 weeks and is below 20 weeks (first trimester), two doctors
need to be satisfied that the conditions have been fulfilled.
* The gestation period does not matter if doctor feels that an immediate abortion must be
conducted to save the mother or the child's life.
* 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.
* For a married person, she should be able to get an abortion if contraceptives did not work and
she did not want to have more children. The doctor has a legal duty to assume in such cases that
the pregnancy affects her mental health gravely. The same legal duty does not unfortunately
apply to unmarried women. However, please remember that this does not mean that a woman
cannot get an abortion. If the doctor forms an opinion that your mental health will suffer if the
pregnancy continues, he or she can perform the abortion.
* The doctors have a duty to get the pregnant mother's consent in order to perform the abortion.
If she is below 18 (a minor) or a person with mental illnesses, the doctors have a duty to get her
guardian’s permission as well. If a doctor performs an abortion without her consent, he or she
can be punished with a jail term extending up to 10 years after fine inspection
* No woman can seek for abortion just because the gender of the unborn baby. It is illegal to
support an abortion just because the baby is not of the gender of the parent's choice and no
person can force the woman for abortion for the same or any reason.
