Under a recent notification released by India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021 came into force Friday. The amended law allows for medical termination of pregnancy in certain situations between the twentieth and the twenty-fourth week. This specific situation was not covered by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

The amended law defines “termination of pregnancy” as a procedure used to terminate a pregnancy by utilizing “medical” or “surgical” methods. Section 3 of the Act shall now allow for the termination of pregnancy up to twenty weeks after obtaining the opinion of one medical practitioner in situations where the continuation of such pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, risk of grave injury to her physical or mental health or in situations where there is a substantial risk of a severe physical or mental abnormality in the child if such child were born and such pregnancy not terminated. Earlier, termination of pregnancy in situations like these was allowed only up to twelve weeks, which has now been increased to twenty weeks.

Under the same conditions of risk to the life of the pregnant woman, risk of grave injury to her physical or mental health, or substantial risk of a severe physical or mental abnormality in the child, medical termination of pregnancy between the twentieth and the twenty-fourth weeks shall also stand allowed upon the opinion of two or more medical practitioners in specific situations as prescribed by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules which shall be notified subsequently. Before the amendment, abortion after the twentieth week was not allowed.