Draft Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment),Bill 2014 proposes to allow abortions until 24 weeks in exceptional cases.Abortion at any stage if substantial foetal abnormality is detected.

The Draft Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment),Bill 2014, which was put up on the website of Ministry of Health on 30.10.2014, proposes to allow abortions till 24 weeks in exceptional cases.

The Draft Bill reads that abortion can be done on request of a woman if the pregnancy period has not gone beyond 12 weeks. However, where the length of pregnancy period exceeds 12 weeks but is below 20 weeks, or even above 20 weeks but below 24 weeks, and the 'health care provider' is of the opinion that the continuation of pregnancy would be dangerous for both mother and child, abortion be allowed.

The Draft bill also proposes that abortionbe allowedat any stage if substantial foetal abnormality is detected.

Abortion is one area, which has seen continued demands for reform. In 2008 a MumbailocalNiketa Mehta had approached the Bombay High Court and also the Supreme Court for termination of her 20-plus week pregnancy after diagnostic scans showed that the fetus had abnormal heart.

Also, in August 2014, petition was filed in the apex Court, demanding an increase in the limit on abortion from 20 to 28 weeks.

You can read more about abortion here

Abortion: Freedom or Violation of Rights? 

Read the Draft here.