Those who were waiting for the amendments to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 would have to now wait longer, as hurdles have resulted in a hold on the amendment bill 2014. The said bill was not taken up by the parliament recently for consideration. It is reported that the MTP amendment bill was put in the public domain in the year 2014 that recommends AYUSH practitioners to carry out abortions along with an increase in the time limit of performing MTP from current 20 weeks to 24 weeks.
While the amended Act was listed for consideration, it became a casualty of the recent Sangli Foeticide Racket. With the racket being exposed, PMO raised concerns over whether increasing the provider base for abortions would lead to an uncontrolled rise in such incidents. Mentioning the concerns, PMO has returned the file to the health ministry asking it to ensure better…
