Meet Mumbai advocates fighting against abortion law to bring women justice

29 October, 2023
Neerja Deodhar

Time is of the essence in these cases,” Anubha Rastogi, an advocate at the Bombay High Court, says at her Fort office. Outside, as the clock strikes two, the bells of the Rajabai Tower toll, underscoring the immediacy she speaks of.

Earlier this week, Rastogi and her associate Rachita Padwal represented a woman who wished to end her 26-week pregnancy. Following a medical board’s assessment about the woman’s mental and physical fitness to undergo the procedure, the HC passed an order allowing the termination. But the lawyers’ work didn’t end there; they made additional suggestions about medical boards themselves—typically comprising a gynaecologist, radiologist, paediatrician, among other experts—and the lack of awareness around them.

Continued: https://www.mid-day.com/sunday-mid-day/article/a-suitable-ruling-23317012

29.10.2023

Commentary

Anubha Rastogi

Bombay High Court

medical boards for abortion

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

Abortion seekers in India battle social stigma, poor medical facilities despite its legal status

A 2019 study published in the British medical journal BMJ Global Health unveiled that approximately two-thirds of abortions in India are categorised as unsafe.

Written by Sushmita Panda
October 18, 2023

The Supreme Court on Monday denied giving permission to a married woman who wanted to terminate her over 26-week pregnancy. According to the apex court, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Medical Board had found “no substantial foetal abnormalities” and a pre-term delivery carried the risk of being born with physical and mental deformities.

Reportedly, the woman had approached the top court seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy due to her inability to take care of the child due to post-partum psychosis and other health issues.

Continued: https://www.financialexpress.com/healthcare/news-healthcare/abortion-seekers-in-india-battle-social-stigma-poor-medical-facilities-despite-its-legal-status/3276184/

By recognising pregnant woman’s right to dignity and autonomy, Supreme Court has made informed decisions on reproductive health possible

On the International Safe Abortion Day, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court emphatically held that all women are entitled to safe and accessible abortions in India.

ROHIN BHATT
SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

WHEN the Delhi High Court dismissed the matter of X versus. The Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, I was apprehensive that this case would end in disappointment and result in a situation which is similar to what is happening after the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dobbs versus Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) in the U.S. In an earlier piece for The Leaflet around this decision, I ended with the following question — “to what length must a woman have to go in order to protect her fundamental right of bodily autonomy under Article 21 [of the Constitution]?”

The Supreme Court of India, in appeal, has answered my question affirmatively in favour of the womanhood. On the International Safe Abortion Day, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court emphatically held that all women are entitled to safe and accessible abortions in India.

Continued: https://theleaflet.in/by-recognising-pregnant-womans-right-to-dignity-and-autonomy-supreme-court-has-made-informed-decisions-on-reproductive-health-possible/

30.09.2022

Commentary

Featured

Indian Supreme Court

International Safe Abortion Day

mandatory reporting

marital rape

medical boards for abortion

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

India – Allahabad HC seeks medical board report for minor rape survivor’s abortion

Aug 29, 2021

PRAYAGRAJ: Hearing the petition of a minor rape survivor seeking permission to terminate her 19-week pregnancy, the Allahabad high court has directed constitution of a medical board for carrying out her medical examination and submitting its recommendations on the feasibility of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP).

The petitioner had sought directions to the state government to permit her to terminate her undesirable pregnancy, stating, “The pregnancy has resulted in such extreme anguish to her that it constituted grave injury to her mental health.”

Continued: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/hc-seeks-med-board-report-forminor-rape-survivors-abortion/articleshow/85725620.cms

29.08.2021

medical boards for abortion

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

minors' access to abortion

Abortion in India – still not a right but a privilege

BY MEENAZ KAKALIA
MAY 3, 2021

Critiquing the recently passed Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021, MEENAZ KAKALIA draws on trends in previous judicial decisions and her own personal experience as an advocate who has filed several petitions on behalf of women seeking termination of their pregnancies beyond the prescribed period. She explains why medical boards that have now been made a permanent feature of the Act, are problematic, and recommends that abortions should be made a right for women, solely determined by expectant mothers on the basis of informed consent.

THE Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021 received Presidential Assent on 25th March 2021. The Act amends the original enactment of 1971 to increase the number of weeks within which a woman can terminate her pregnancy, and provides for certain circumstances in which a pregnancy can be terminated at any stage.

Continued: https://www.theleaflet.in/abortion-in-india-still-not-a-right-but-a-privilege/

India – Set up board to look into plea on abortion, says HC

STAFF REPORTER, NEW DELHI
MARCH 31, 2021

The Delhi High Court has directed the All India Institute Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to constitute a medical board to examine a woman who wanted medical termination of her 24-week pregnancy as her foetus is suffering from facial haemorrhage and hydrocephalus.

Justice Navin Chawla asked the Medical Superintendent of AIIMS here to appoint a Board of Doctors to examine the woman and give a report on the advisability of her undergoing medical termination of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/set-up-board-to-look-into-plea-on-abortion-says-hc/article34201637.ece

31.03.2021

Featured

News

All India Institute Medical Sciences

Justice Navin Chawla

medical boards for abortion

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

India – Where is the medical technology in the latest MTP Bill 2020?

March 26, 2021
Jasmine Lovely George

If you read closely the Objective of latest Amendment in the Medical Termination Bill, 2020 you would really think that this Bill had an intention of coming to terms with advancement in medical technology. But that’s not the case. At an age where people are trying to colonise Mars, how difficult would it be to make abortion lot more easier and simpler for women and pregnant folks?

The latest law just made accessing abortion little more difficult.

Continued: https://hiddenpocketscollective.org/2021/03/26/where-is-the-medical-technology-in-the-latest-mtp-bill-2020/

26.03.2021

Featured

Opinion

Hidden Pockets Collective

Jasmine Lovely George

medical boards for abortion

Medical Termination Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020

Medical Boards under MTP Bill will make Abortion Inaccessible

Parvathi Sajiv
FEBRUARY 4, 2021

The Rajya Sabha will soon debate The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The Bill highlights a few changes, including the setting up of a Medical Board to decide on the abortion of pregnancies beyond 24 weeks due to foetal abnormalities. The Medical Board isn’t feasible in India’s current situation and may push accessibility to abortions further away reports PARVATHI SAJIV.

THE Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (‘MTP Amendment Bill’) was introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in March 2020. The Bill is likely to be brought in the Rajya Sabha in the ongoing budget session, and it still has a few framework issues.

Continued: https://www.theleaflet.in/medical-boards-under-mtp-bill-will-make-abortion-inaccessible/#

04.02.2021

medical boards for abortion

Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020

India – The MTP Bill Would Put Doctor Panels in Charge of Approving Late‑Stage Abortion; It’s Unfeasible and Unnecessary.

By Dipika Jain & Kavya Kartik
Feb 1, 2021

From 2015 to 2019 in Assam, 51,000 women sought treatment for complications arising from unsafe abortions. In Madhya Pradesh, 36 women died in 2018 and 56 women died in 2019 from unsafe abortions. As recently as January 2021, a 15-year-old girl died from pregnancy-related complications in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, after being denied permission to abort. A 2019 study analysing a sample of 1.8 million women from nine states found that two-thirds of abortions in India are unsafe. Despite being completely preventable, unsafe abortion continues to be the third leading cause of maternal deaths in the country. The legal framework on abortion in India, along with the dismal investment in public health care, act as major barriers to safe abortion access and prevent pregnant persons from getting the health care services they need.

Continued: https://theswaddle.com/the-mtp-bill-would-put-doctor-panels-in-charge-of-approving-late-stage-abortion-its-unfeasible-and-unnecessary/

India – Medical board on abortion ‘unfeasible’, says study

82% of obstetrics-gynaecology, paediatric and other specialist posts vacant

Jagriti Chandra
JANUARY 31, 2021

A panel of doctors to decide on termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks as proposed in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Amendment Bill, 2020, is “unfeasible” as 82% of these posts are lying vacant in the country, finds a new study.

The MTP Bill was passed in Lok Sabha in March 2020, and is likely to be brought before Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Budget Session.

Continued: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/medical-board-on-abortion-unfeasible-says-study/article33711124.ece