Parliament passes bill to allow abortions upto 24 weeks in special cases, approval from 2 doctors must

The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill that would allow for abortions in cases where the length of the pregnancy exceeds 20 weeks but does not exceed 24 weeks" if no less than two registered medical practitioners are of the opinion that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman.

Rajya Sabha Tuesday passed a bill to raise the upper limit for permitting abortions from the present 20 weeks to 24 for "special categories of women" including rape survivors, victims of incest, minors and differently-abled. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 was passed by voice vote. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha about a year ago. A resolution moved by Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa to send the bill to a select committee of Rajya Sabha was defeated by voice vote, along with some other amendments proposed by members.