The amendments in the MTP Act bill are flawed| Analysis
A woman’s right to reproductive freedom remains subordinated to the medical and legal regime

Feb 28, 2020
Vrinda Grover

The Union Cabinet’s approval of the Amendments to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971, in January, sets the stage for a small though belated step forward. In a country where unsafe abortion is the third leading cause of maternal mortality, taking a toll of 13 lives each day, the law and the health system will need to do much more than the proposed MTP Amendments Bill, 2020.

It is a welcome amendment that the bill inter alia proposes to place an unmarried woman and her partner at par with a married woman and her husband, in securing abortion due to contraceptive failure. Jurisprudentially, this carries forward the rationale of the law against domestic violence which makes no distinction between the rights and protections available to a woman, whether in marriage or a live-in relationship. This recognition of women’s sexual agency will encourage access to safe abortion facilities as the stigma is erased.

Continued: https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-amendments-in-the-mtp-act-bill-are-flawed-analysis/story-H0DZJUAWWopQZKPzbLXyJL.html