India – Doctor Allegedly Flees After Patient Dies During Abortion in Karimganj

Feb 10, 2024

GUWAHATI: A woman lost her life during an abortion procedure, allegedly due to incorrect treatment at the Karimganj Civil Hospital on February 9. The doctor who was operating on the woman soon escaped the hospital premise after locking the Operation Theatre.

The situation escalated when her family, concerned about the prolonged operation, discovered that the operating surgeon, Ashish Kumar Biswas, and his team had fled the operation theatre.

Continued: https://www.guwahatiplus.com/assam/doctor-flees-after-patient-dies-during-abortion-in-karimganj


India – On abortion, Supreme Court and government have failed women

Coerced pregnancies and forceful state oversight of termination benefit neither the pregnant person nor the child

Written by Rohin Bhatt
February 5, 2024

For a long time, Indians have prided themselves on a “liberal abortion regime”. In 2022, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani wrote in The Indian Express (‘West steps back, India shows way’, June 27), “It is a liberal achievement over countries where abortions are disallowed since conception, even in the most traumatising of circumstances of sexual abuse or incest… Not only is the government making a concerted effort for reproductive choices to be easier on the pockets of women, it is also promoting safe motherhood through institutional deliveries under Janani Suraksha Yojana and quality, respectful care in labour rooms during deliveries under schemes like LaQshya.”

But do the government and courts walk the talk when issues of abortion come up? A recent look at the decisions of the Supreme Court and high courts would suggest — the answer is no.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/abortion-supreme-court-government-have-failed-women-9145065/


India – ‘24-Week Limit For Abortion Is Obsolete’

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act does not permit abortions beyond 24 weeks, but this limit is obsolete, as abortions can now safely be performed right up to full term, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves says

By Menaka Rao
2 Feb, 2024

New Delhi: On January 23, the Delhi High Court recalled its order granting permission for abortion to a 26-year-old woman. Her husband had died two months ago. She was about 30 weeks pregnant when she approached the court. The earlier order was based on the fact that she had suicide ideation due to her bereavement, but the court turned back on its previous order after doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) raised objections to the late-term abortion saying that the foetus was viable and it could be born alive after the procedure.

This case is similar to the one decided in October 2023 by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which involved a married woman with postpartum psychosis after a recent delivery. There too, AIIMS doctors had sent clarifications that it was a late-term pregnancy as defined by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 2021 (MTP Act). The Supreme Court not only rejected the abortion plea at the time, but also told the woman to deliver the baby at AIIMS and give it up for adoption if the couple wishes to do so.

Continued: https://www.indiaspend.com/indiaspend-interviews/24-week-limit-for-abortion-is-obsolete-892891


Abortion law in India is changing. Advocate Amit Mishra is at the centre of it all

Debate on woman’s right to terminate pregnancy as against right of unborn child has been gaining steam in India. Dr Mishra says he gets 1-2 cases every month involving these rights.

APOORVA MANDHANI
03 February, 2024

New Delhi: ‘The baby is currently viable — that is he will show signs of life and have a strong possibility of survival — so we would need a directive from the Supreme Court on whether a foeticide can be done before the abortion.’ This is what an AIIMS doctor wrote in an email to the Supreme Court on 10 October last year. The email changed the course of the debate on abortion in India.

The email was written after a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, on 9 October, allowed a 27-year-old woman, ‘X’, to terminate her 26-week pregnancy.

Continued: https://theprint.in/judiciary/abortion-law-in-india-is-changing-advocate-amit-mishra-is-at-the-centre-of-it-all/1950906/


India – ‘Fetus is normal’ — AIIMS asks HC to reconsider order allowing abortion for 31 weeks pregnant woman

Delhi HC order allowed abortion citing psychiatric report that woman was suffering from extreme trauma. Hospital's application says 'feticide' in this case 'neither justified nor ethical'.

BHADRA SINHA
16 January, 2024

New Delhi: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has expressed reservations about a Delhi High Court order permitting abortion to a 31-week pregnant woman.

In an application filed Monday before the high court, the hospital said the “fetus is grossly normal” and, therefore, “feticide” in the case “is neither justified nor ethical”.

Continued: https://theprint.in/judiciary/fetus-is-normal-aiims-asks-hc-to-reconsider-order-allowing-abortion-for-31-weeks-pregnant-woman/1925498/


A disturbing judicial trend to inhibit access to abortion services in India

Two decisions, one of the Kerala High Court and the other of the Supreme Court of India represent a disturbing new trend of courts leaning away from respect for bodily autonomy and the choice of a pregnant person in access to abortion services.

MUSKAN TIBREWALA
JANUARY 7, 2024

IN a short span of four days, from December 18 to December 22, the fate of a 12-year-old girl child who is pregnant due to rape by her minor brother was decided by the Kerala High Court.

The girl child sought termination of the pregnancy on the ground that giving birth would lead to “cataclysmic consequences to her physiological and psychological condition”.

Continued: https://theleaflet.in/a-disturbing-judicial-trend-to-inhibit-access-to-abortion-services-in-india/


India – 55-year-old rapist, nurse who performed abortion on minor held under Pocso Act in TN

According to a police source, the accused farmer of Ponnivadi village in Dharapuram owned several acres of farmland in the locality.

30th December 2023

TIRUPPUR: Police on Friday arrested a 55-year-old man under Pocso Act for sexually assaulting a girl and making the minor abort the baby in Dharapuram. A nurse attached to the Dharapuram Government Hospital was also arrested for her role in the Dalit girl’s abortion.

According to a police source, the accused farmer of Ponnivadi village in Dharapuram owned several acres of farmland in the locality. The 16-year-old girl was working as a farmhand in his field. The accused sexually assaulted her repeatedly, and three months ago, the minor became pregnant.

Continued: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2023/dec/30/55-year-old-rapist-nurse-who-performed-abortion-on-minor-held-under-pocso-act-in-tn-2646134.html


India – Arrest of doctor for 242 illegal abortions highlights how woman’s rights over body is a travesty

Ironically, it is women who are largely the pall-bearers of this self-inflicting, self-indicting and self-violating mindset.

by Bala Chauhan
04th December 2023

BENGALURU : The arrest of a doctor, Chandan Ballal, and his lab technician Nisar, who allegedly conducted more than 900 illegal abortions over the past three years at a hospital in Mysuru, and the arrest of nine persons in the Byappanahalli police station jurisdiction in Bengaluru, for allegedly performing 242 illegal abortions in the last three months, have raised serious concerns over two issues -- both are anchored around women’s rights, or lack of them, over their reproductive health.

While there’s not much clarity on whether all these said illegal abortions were carried out after the sex of the foetus was disclosed to the couple by the radiologist, or because of other reasons, the incidents confirm that women lack authority or propriety over their own reproductive health.

Continued: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2023/dec/04/arrest-of-doctor-for-242-illegal-abortions-highlights-how-womans-rights-overbody-is-a-travesty-2638463.html


India – Karnataka nurse who ‘helped’ doctor perform illegal abortions held

The case will be handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Sunday, in accordance with the chief minister’s announcement.

03 December 2023

Bengaluru: Police have tracked down a nurse closely working with Dr Chandan Ballal, who was arrested in the illegal sex determination-cum-foeticide case.

Police say Manjula helped Dr Ballal conduct the illegal abortions and discard the foetuses. She was arrested on Saturday morning from Mysuru and has been taken into police custody, said an officer from the Baiyappanahalli police station.

Continued: https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/karnataka-nurse-who-helped-doctor-perform-illegal-abortions-held-2795396


Doctor who did 900 illegal abortions arrested

Bengaluru police have arrested a medical doctor who allegedly performed 900 illegal abortions in the last three years, or 20 every month, under an elaborate sex-determination-cum-female foeticide racket

Chetan B C
Nov 26, 2023

Bengaluru police have arrested a medical doctor who allegedly performed 900 illegal abortions in the last three years, or 20 every month, under an elaborate sex-determination-cum-female foeticide racket.

Dr Chandan Ballal and his lab technician, Nisar, were arrested last week, police sources said. Dr Ballal reportedly charged around Rs 30,000 for each abortion.

Continued: https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/doctor-who-did-900-illegal-abortions-arrested-2785849