NEW DELHI: Last month, a woman in Maharashtra moved court when she found out that her 22-week-old fetus had a brain condition posing significant risk of physical handicap. She had to move court as abortion is not allowed in India beyond 20 weeks. The couple would have been spared the trauma if a five-year old proposal to allow medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) up to 24 weeks in problematic cases had become a law.

In the year 2014, the Union Health Ministry had drafted the amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act for cases with fetal abnormalities or where there is substantial risk to the mother or the child. While the amendment lies forgotten, every such case goes to the courts today, and is referred to permanent medical boards.

Doctors in Delhi state that they see many pregnancies in which the fetus’ brain or spine isn’t fully developed even after 20 weeks of gestation, or there is evidence of diseases that can cause permanent disability in the child. Dr Neerja Bhatla, Professor of Gynecology at AIIMS, said that they receive three to four requests for abortion every month from women who have been diagnosed with significant abnormality in the fetus. However, they have to refuse to such requests because the law doesn’t permit this.

Dr Abha Mazumdar, Senior Consultant, Obstetrics and Gynecology, at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said that they receive several such requests for abortion. She added that the only thing these women can do is hope that the fetus dies naturally in the womb. Otherwise, they have to deliver it.

Dr Anita Kant, Head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology division at Asian Institute of Medical Science, Faridabad, stated that the 20-week window for abortion is inadequate since most abnormalities can be detected only after the 19th week. She added that parents don’t think of abortion immediately.

They visit higher centres to check if the abnormality can be corrected. It is when everything else fails that they come with a request for abortion. But by then, it’s too late.

Dr Kant said that the law should be relaxed as there are several places in India that do not have advanced ultrasound and antenatal care. The abnormalities can go undetected in the first 20 weeks.

Countries like France, UK, Austria, Ethiopia, Italy, Spain, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and even Nepal allow MTP beyond 20 weeks when fetal abnormalities are found.

Additionally, a recent article published in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics suggested that 23 countries, including Canada, Germany, Vietnam, Denmark, Ghana and Zambia, allow abortion at any time during pregnancy if the request is based on social reasons or evidence of fetal abnormalities.

Dr Ranjana Sharma, Senior Obstetrician and Gynecologist at Apollo Hospital, said that other societies are agreeing with the view that when fetal abnormalities pose risk of death or permanent disability, abortion can be considered. She stated that India should also consider it. If there is a draft bill that proposes to extend the time limit, for all the right reasons, it should be passed immediately. (TNN)