In March 2020, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (‘MTP Amendment Bill’) was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Bill proposes certain reforms to the current law, such as extension of the 20-week limit to 24 weeks – but only for certain categories of women – and the mandatory constitution of Medical Boards to decide on termination of pregnancy after 24 weeks, provided the foetus is diagnosed with ‘abnormalities’. The Bill seeks to set up Medical Boards in every state and union territory (UT). Each board is to have one gynaecologist, one radiologist or sonologist, one paediatrician, and other members prescribed by the state/UT government, and will have the power to grant permission for abortions beyond 24 weeks of gestation in case of ‘substantial foetal abnormalities’. We, at the Centre for Justice, Law and Society (CJLS) undertook a study to closely analyse the district-wise availability and accessibility of specialist doctors across all Indian states, and the ramifications of the paucity of such doctors across rural, urban, and scheduled regions. The report focuses on access to abortion services in the country and specifically explores the feasibility of setting up Medical Boards for abortion. The report finds that there are sweeping shortages of healthcare professionals and specialists across India, poor public health infrastructure and healthcare funding exacerbated by unsound privatisation policies, and significant data gaps for doctor availability. Given these findings, requiring specialist doctors to sign oon a procedure as common as abortion is impossible – and will result in pregnant persons accessing unsafe abortions This study found that the setting up of functional Medical Boards is practically impossible since, (i) there is an abysmal shortage of doctors and healthcare facilities in India, and (ii) on average, states and union territories recorded a shortfall of 80% in obstetricians and gynaecologists, and (iii) some states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim record a shocking 100% shortfall of paediatricians.

Dipika Jain, Kavya Kartik, Krithika Balu, Oieshi Saha, Rhea Malik. Medical Boards for Access to Abortion Untenable: Evidence from the Ground. Centre for Justice, Law and Society , Jindal Global Law School November 2016.