India – Pandemic pushes wife to write book on crusading doc who fought to raise abortion limit

Mumbai News
Published on Dec 24

Mumbai: When Covid forced the world to shut down, Dr Smita Datar, the wife of a renowned gynaecologist and judicial activist used the time in hand to write about her husband’s 14-year crusade—a crusade that pushed the Union cabinet to upgrade an archaic law in 2020. The story of Dr Nikhil Datar, who got policymakers to raise the upper limit for abortions from 20 weeks to 24 weeks, is now encapsulated in a Marathi book, Fakt Tichyasaathi (Only For Her), which was released today in Mumbai.

“Years ago, the need to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act and extend the permissible abortion term was discussed only in medical conferences,” said Dr Smita. “My husband had just started his practice but he was focused on bringing justice to women. He saw many ups and downs and faced criticism but never gave up. And 50 years after the passage of the historic MTP Act of 1971, the MTP Amendment Bill 2020 was passed. It was a landmark.”

Continued: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/pandemic-pushes-wife-to-write-book-on-crusading-doc-who-fought-to-raise-abortion-limit-101671905399843.html

24.12.2022

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

MTP Amendment Bill 2020

How India’s Most Important Law for Children’s Safety is Leading to Unsafe Abortions Among Teenagers

How India's Most Important Law for Children's Safety is Leading to Unsafe Abortions Among Teenagers
The conflict of the POCSO and the MTP Act is making doctors hesitant to provide services to girls under-18 due to fear of prosecution, and teenaged girls apprehensive of seeking abortion services from legal providers, in turn, forcing them to seek unsafe abortion measures.

Adrija Bose
October 23, 2019

Delhi: A few days after discovering she is pregnant, Rekha*, along with her mother, went to Dr Samir R Pradhan, a gynaecologist in Mumbai. She wanted an abortion. The doctor tried to determine her age through her Aadhaar card but it mentioned only her year of birth.

Her school documents revealed that she's a couple of months short of 18 - anything less than that age means there can be no consent involved in sex. Or, that's what the law says. "An act of sex with a woman below 18 years is considered to be rape and we are bound by the law to inform the authorities," Dr Pradhan says.

Continued: https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/police-drama-or-unsafe-abortion-the-complicated-choice-for-pregnant-indian-teenagers-2359321.html

India – Women don’t have absolute right to abort: Government to SC

Women don’t have absolute right to abort: Government to SC
The affidavit says an amendment in the law is in works and that it has sought “changes in section 5 MTP Act on grounds of substantial foetal abnormalities.

Sep 19, 2019
HT Correspondent, New Delhi

A pregnant woman does not have an absolute right to abort her pregnancy and the right to abortion has to be balanced against compelling state interest to protect the mother’s health and life of the unborn child, asserts the ministry of health and family welfare in an affidavit filed by it in the Supreme Court.

The affidavit, filed in response to a petition by Dr Nikhil Datar which seeks to raise the cap for terminating pregnancy from the current 20 weeks to 26 weeks and the quashing of section 5 of the Act, says an amendment in the law is in works and that it has sought “changes in section 5 MTP Act on grounds of substantial foetal abnormalities. The draft has been sent to the Ministry of Law and Justice for vetting.”

Continued: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/women-don-t-have-absolute-right-to-abort-government-to-sc/story-xJYnwFibwU7Jezm5yRRu0H.html

19.09.2019

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971

‘Dear reader, put yourself in the position of a child raped and denied an abortion’

‘Dear reader, put yourself in the position of a child raped and denied an abortion’

Esperanza Meraki

28 September 2018

I am a 14-year-old aspiring human rights activist and this is why I believe in women’s and girls' right to safe abortion in cases of rape.

Abortion is a very complicated topic, as there is no black or white; there is an infinite amount of shades of grey in between. Many people across the world are anti-abortion and pro-life. Some believe that abortion is murder and women should not be given that choice, but I believe this is problematic and unfair because there are many cases when a woman should have the right to terminate a fetus.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/esperanza-meraki/dear-reader-i-urge-you-to-put-yourself-in-position-of-child-who-has-been-raped

India: Woman undergoes abortion in 30th week of pregnancy at JJ hospital

Woman undergoes abortion in 30th week of pregnancy at JJ hospital

Woman’s foetus had been diagnosed with multiple congenital defects. The newborn, weighing 900 gms, survived for a few minutes after birth before succumbing to multiple complications.

Written by TABASSUM BARNAGARWALA | Mumbai
Published: September 12, 2017

WITH the judiciary emerging as the only avenue for pregnant women over 20 weeks in gestation whose foetuses are diagnosed with an anomaly, the city is seeing a rise in the number of petitions seeking medical termination of pregnancy filed in the apex court. In the latest case, a Dubai-based pregnant woman, detected with several anomalies in her foetus, underwent an emergency pregnancy termination at JJ Hospital on Monday following Supreme Court orders.

Continued at source: Indian Woman undergoes abortion in 30th week of pregnancy at JJ hospital

Indian girl allowed abortion amid claims doctors ‘afraid to help’ child rape victims

Indian girl allowed abortion amid claims doctors ‘afraid to help’ child rape victims

Supreme court approves termination for 13-year-old who fell pregnant after assault but case highlights concerns that medics do not understand relevant law

Amrit Dhillon in New Delhi
Thursday 7 September 2017

The Indian supreme court has ruled that a 13-year-old rape victim in Mumbai who was left pregnant after the attack can have a termination. It follows a landmark ruling last month that said doctors should make greater effort to support victims of sexual assault regardless of the country’s abortion laws.

On 25 August, the court ruled that precious time was lost, and added distress caused, to girls and their families when they were forced to bring their individual cases to court. Doctors have been criticised as being far too fearful when dealing with the victims of child rape.

Continued at source: The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/sep/07/indian-girl-13-allowed-abortion-supreme-court-ruling-doctors-afraid-to-help-child-rape-victims

India rape victim, 13, seeks court approval for abortion

India rape victim, 13, seeks court approval for abortion

28 August 2017

The parents of a pregnant 13-year-old rape victim from the Indian city of Mumbai have gone to the Supreme Court seeking permission to abort her baby.

The girl is 30 weeks pregnant. Indian law allows terminations after 20 weeks only if the mother's life is in danger.

The pregnancy was discovered after her parents took her to a doctor to seek treatment for obesity.

Continued at source: BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-40996629

28.08.2017

Human Rights Law Network

India: Chorus for extending abortion deadline grows

Chorus for extending abortion deadline grows
Jul 11, 2017

Highlighting the limitation of the 20-week abortion deadline again, a city doctor spoke about the plight of a jilted woman who wants to abort her 19-week foetus but cannot because of a medical condition. By the time doctors control her hyperthyroidism and make her fit enough to undergo a medical termination, the deadline would have passed.

This is the third case the state's medical fraternity has encountered in a week's time where the MTP deadline has come in the way of terminating a difficult pregnancy

Continued at source: Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/chorus-for-extending-abortion-deadline-grows/articleshow/59540946.cms

11.07.2017

Dr Shantanu Abhyankar

fatal fetal abnormality

fetal anomaly

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

India: KEM hospital panel that ruled out abortion of foetus with neurological problems did not have subject specialist

KEM hospital panel that ruled out abortion of foetus with neurological problems did not have subject specialist

Mumbai city news: Child born after Supreme Court turned down plea to abort pregnancy in critical condition at KEM hospital
Jul 06, 2017
Sadaguru Pandit
Hindustan Times

Last Saturday, a 28-year-old woman gave birth to a boy with Arnold Chiari Syndrome Type-II — fluid accumulation in the brain and spinal deformities that leave him little chance of survival. She and her husband had moved the Supreme Court to be allowed to abort her pregnancy in the 27th week once they knew about the problems the foetus had, but the court had on March 27 turned down their plea based on the report of an expert team of doctors from Mumbai’s KEM hospital. The child is now in a critical condition at the KEM hospital where he was born. The law now prohibits abortion of foetus beyond 20th weeks, unless otherwise advised by a medical panel.

Continued at source: Hindustan Times: http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/kem-hospital-panel-that-ruled-out-abortion-of-foetus-with-neurological-problems-did-not-have-subject-specialist/story-p7kOo6vTwGPFMQ1uU3rydO.html

06.07.2017

Featured

News

Arnold Chiari Syndrome

Dr Nikhil Datar

Dr. Avinash Supe

Dr. Devi Shetty

fatal fetal abnormality

KEM Hospital

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

India: Moms on abortion deadline fight for ailing fetuses

by Malathy Iyer
Dec 19, 2016, Times of India

MUMBAI: When 34-year-old Kusum Rao, a Mumbai-based lawyer, was told that the brain of her 19-week-old unborn child didn't have a membranous partition called the 'cavum septum pellicidum', she panicked.

Some websites linked its absence to mental retardation, blindness, learning disabilities as well as an increased risk of schizophrenia. Moreover, she had days before the 20-week deadline for abortion under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act expired.

[continued at link]
Source: Times of India

19.12.2016