Against Her Choice

Context:  A critical analysis of the recently tabled Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Amendment Bill 2020.

Problems associated with MTP Bill, 2021

• Counters Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity:
  • Abortion under the MTP Amendment Bill will not be allowed at the request of a pregnant person but is conditional on authorization by the doctor.
  • The provisions in the bill continue to criminalize abortion and perpetuate harmful stereotypes and stigma around reproduction, sexuality and motherhood.
• Fosters the ableist rationale of the State: As the Bill will allow for abortions without any upper gestation limit only for foetuses with “abnormalities”.
• Possible delays in the abortion process: As people living in rural areas in large parts of the country could find the medical boards (for approval of abortions) as mandated by the bill inaccessible.
• Procedures of medical boards might lead to violations of privacy.
• Non-Inclusive: There were consultations with elite groups of healthcare professionals, bureaucrats and politicians, but important civil society actors and marginalized groups were not consulted.
  • Lack of inclusion of transgender people within the MTP framework.
  • This may result in constitutional challenges and judicial interventions of the law.
• Hetero-patriarchal regulatory orientation of the law: As the State continues to control women’s reproductive and sexual rights.