Position of Abortion in India.

India, as a country has always been a progressive country that has worked in the direction to fulfil the needs of its citizens. But, Abortion has always been a controversial topic in Indian society. In India, abortion has always been considered a taboo, and discussion regarding it is considered as a thing of disgust.

 In Indian society, firstly there is no concept for a woman to have a pre-marital pregnancy because, if a girl conceives like that, then, the girl is considered as beige. And abortion after the marriage in Indian society is never been considered as a good option. India, being a patriarchal society always has preference over boy child. In fact even today in the twenty first century girls are been considered as a burden over the family, therefore, In India most of the abortions are female foeticides. It can be said that the high rate of abortion in India is the correct example of gender biasness.

Situation of Abortion before 1971-:

Before 1971 abortion in India was been considered a punishable offense without any exceptions. According to section 312 of Indian Penal Code “Whoever voluntarily causes a woman with child to miscarry, shall, if such miscarriage is not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both; and, if the woman be quick with child, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

Shantilal Committee-:

Shantilal committee was the first committee that recommended making “Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act, 1971”. Shantilal Committee focused on the socio, cultural, legal, and medical aspects of abortion.

Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act, 1971

Protection of Doctors who perform Abortion -:

According to section 3 of Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act,1971 “a registered medical practitioner shall not be guilty of any offence under that Code or under any other law for the time being in force, if any pregnancy is terminated by him in accordance with the provisions of this Act.”

According to section 8 of Medical Termination Pregnancy, Act “No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against any registered medical practitioner for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.”

Protection of Pregnant Women-:

1) – Only the consent of the adult women is been required for abortion, even the consent of the close relative will not be considered as a valid consent in such matters.

2) – In case of a minor girl or the girl or lady who is mentally ill in their case the permission of the parent or guardian is required for abortion.

According to section 5(2) of amendment Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act, 2002 “Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Penal Code, the termination of pregnancy by a person who is not a registered medical practitioner shall be an offence punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than two years but which may extend to seven years under that Code, and that Code shall, to this extent, stand modified.”

Protection of Clinics -:

(1)-The Appropriate Authority shall, after holding an inquiry and after satisfying itself that the applicant has complied with all the requirements of this Act and the rules made thereunder and having regard to the advice of the Advisory Committee in this behalf, grant a certificate of registration in the prescribed form jointly or separately to the Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory or Genetic Clinic, as the case may be. (2) If, after the inquiry and after giving an opportunity of being heard to the applicant and having regard to the advice of the Advisory Committee, the Appropriate Authority is satisfied that the applicant has not complied with the requirements of this Act or the rules, it shall, for reasons to be recorded in writing, reject the application for registration. (3) Every certificate of registration shall be renewed in such manner and after such period and on payment of such fees as may be prescribed. (4) The certificate of registration shall be displayed by the registered Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory or Genetic Clinic in a conspicuous place at its place of business.

(2)-No person, including a specialist or a team of specialists in the field of infertility, shall conduct or cause to be conducted or aid in conducting by himself or by any other person, sex selection on a woman or a man or on both or on any tissue, embryo, conceptus, fluid or gametes derived from either or both of them.

(3)-No person referred to in clause (2) of section 3 shall conduct the pre-natal diagnostic procedures unless— (a) he has explained all known side and after effects of such procedures to the pregnant woman concerned; (b) he has obtained in the prescribed form her written consent to undergo such procedures in the language which she understands; and (c) a copy of her written consent obtained under clause (b) is given to the pregnant woman. (2) No person conducting pre-natal diagnostic procedures shall communicate to the pregnant woman concerned or her relatives the sex of the foetus by words, signs or in any other manner.

(4)-(a) no Genetic Counselling Centre or Genetic Laboratory or Genetic Clinic shall conduct or cause to be conducted in its Centre, Laboratory or Clinic, pre-natal diagnostic techniques including ultrasonography, for the purpose of determining the sex of a foetus; (b) no person shall conduct or cause to be conducted any pre-natal diagnostic techniques including ultrasonography for the purpose of determining the sex of a foetus.

Right to Protest-:

If the license of a registered clinic under the act gets cancelled then they have the right to appeal and protest. According to section 21 of THE PRE-NATAL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES (PNDT) ACT,1994 “The Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory or Genetic Clinic may, within thirty days from the date of receipt of the order of suspension or cancellation of registration passed by the Appropriate Authority under section 20, prefer an appeal against such order to— (i) the Central Government, where the appeal is against the order of the Central Appropriate Authority; and (ii) the State Government, where the appeal is against the order of the State Appropriate Authority, in the prescribed manner.

Conclusion-:

As, the need for the time, rules, and regulations in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act, 1971, should be amended. Even today there are many things which are untouched by the law in the matter of legal abortion, and it’s not that these things are not been looked or touched by our lawmakers, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill, 2014 and Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill, 2020 are still pending. But the law-making process in our country is to slow that for making a general it takes a minimum of 23 to 24 years. Countries like America, Russia, etc. have properly defined and have stringent laws regarding abortion. To improve the condition of abortion in India there is a need to make stringent laws.