Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act: Centre notifies Rules allowing abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy

The Central Government on Tuesday notified the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Rules, 2021 that allows termination of pregnancy up to 24 weeks for certain categories of women..These rules have been enacted under Section 6 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP Act)..Prior to this, on September 24, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021 came into force. This Amendment Act modified Section 3 of the MTP Act to extend the upper limit for medical termination of pregnancy to 24 weeks, from the present stipulation of 20 weeks, for certain categories of women who are defined under these newly enacted Rules.Under Rule 3-B of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Rules, 2021, the following categories of women are eligible for termination of pregnancy up to 24 Weeks:Survivors of sexual assault or rape or incest;Minors;Change of marital status during the ongoing pregnancy (widowhood and divorce);Women with physical disabilities [major disability as per criteria laid down under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016)];Mentally ill women including mental retardation;The foetal malformation that has substantial risk of being incompatible with life or if the child is born it may suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities to be seriously handicapped; andWomen with pregnancy in humanitarian settings or disaster or emergency situations as may be declared by the government..Section 3(2C) of Amendment Act 2021 provides for mandatory formation of a medical board duly constituted by the respective State government or UT administration at approved facilities. It provides that the opinion for medical termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks gestation period will be given by a medical board. Two registered medical practitioners eligible as per the new rules will perform the termination of pregnancy based on the decision of the medical board. Further, the newly enacted Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Rules, 2021 under Rule 3-A also provides that the Medical Board shall have the power "to allow or deny termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks of gestation period only after due consideration and ensuring that the procedure would be safe for the woman at that gestation age and whether the foetal malformation has substantial risk of it being incompatible with life or if the child is born it may suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities to be seriously handicapped.".[Read Rules]