Safe abortion care, a measure to reduce morbidity and mortality, is the right of every woman. Stigma associated with abortion often forces women to try unsafe practices and results in significant suffering and complications in future pregnancies.
The new Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021 expands the access to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian, and social grounds to ensure universal access to comprehensive care. The new act covers both married & unmarried women. Termination of pregnancy can be done upto 20 weeks of gestational age by single registered medical practitioners and upto 24 weeks by two registered medical pregnancies.
The abortion is to be performed only by doctors with specialization in gynecology or obstetrics.
The act also mandates that the “name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed”, except to a person authorised in any law that is currently in force.
Depending upon the age of gestational age, both medical & surgical options are available for MTP.