Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R).
Assertion (A): Whether to accept or legalise medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) is being debated upon in many countries.
Reason (R): In India, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act was enacted with the intention of reducing the incidence of illegal abortion and consequent maternal mortality and morbidity.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
Medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) is the intentional or voluntary ending of a pregnancy before full term. It is also called induced abortion.
Assertion (A): Whether to accept or legalise medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) is being debated upon in many countries. — True. A is about the debate over MTP. Many countries are still debating whether to accept or legalise it, because of the emotional, ethical, religious and social issues involved.
Reason (R): In India, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act was enacted with the intention of reducing the incidence of illegal abortion and consequent maternal mortality and morbidity. — True. R is about the aim of the law in India. The MTP (Amendment) Act, 2017 was made to reduce illegal abortions and the maternal deaths and illness that follow them.
Why R does not explain A? The reason for the debate is the set of emotional, ethical, religious and social issues around ending a pregnancy. R does not mention these. It tells what one country’s law aims to do after MTP was already legalised there, so it cannot be the reason why other countries are still debating it. So both statements are correct, but R is not the explanation of A.
Note: This Reason was hiding in a narrow margin box beside the main text. NTA reads the margins too, so you should.
NCERT Extract:
Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) – “… Whether to accept / legalise MTP or not is being debated upon in many countries due to emotional, ethical, religious and social issues involved in it. Government of India legalised MTP in 1971 with some strict conditions to avoid its misuse. … The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2017 was enacted by the government of India with the intension of reducing the incidence of illegal abortion and consequent maternal mortality and morbidity.”