Abortion

An induced abortion is a medical procedure to end a pregnancy. In India, abortion is legal under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. The MTP (Amendment) Act, 2021 allows termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks on the advice of one registered medical practitioner, and up to 24 weeks in specific categories — survivors of rape or incest, minors, women whose marital status changed during pregnancy, women with physical or mental disabilities, and in cases of foetal abnormality or other circumstances defined by the government. Beyond 24 weeks, termination for foetal abnormalities can be approved by a medical board.

There are two main methods:

• Medication abortion — a combination of medicines (typically mifepristone followed by misoprostol) taken under medical supervision. Usually used in earlier pregnancies.
• Procedural (surgical) abortion — manual or electric vacuum aspiration, or dilatation and evacuation for later gestation. Done by a trained doctor at an approved facility.

An induced abortion is different from a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) — the natural loss of a pregnancy before the 20th week.

If you are considering terminating a pregnancy, talk to a registered gynaecologist. A safe, legal abortion done by a trained provider is a low-risk procedure. Unsafe abortions — attempts outside the medical system, or by untrained providers — remain a leading cause of maternal mortality globally and are entirely preventable. Government hospitals, Primary Health Centres, and many private clinics provide MTP services free or at subsidised cost.

Sex-selective abortion is illegal in India under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, and no doctor can disclose the sex of the foetus — this is an important legal distinction unrelated to the general right to access safe abortion care.