Read the given passage and answer the following questions:
Intentional or voluntary termination of pregnancy before full term is called medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) or induced abortion. Nearly 45 to 50 million MTPs are performed in a year all over the world which accounts to 1/5th of the total number of conceived pregnancies in a year. 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. 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. According to this Act, a pregnancy may be terminated on certain considered grounds within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy on the opinion of one registered medical practitioner. If the pregnancy has lasted more than 12 weeks, but fewer than 24 weeks, two registered medical practitioners must be of the opinion, formed in good faith, that the required ground exist. The grounds for such termination of pregnancies are: (i) The continuation of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or of grave injury physical or mental health; or (ii There is a substantial risk that of the child were born, it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
Statement I: MTPs are performed to get rid of unwanted pregnancies due to casual unprotected intercourse, failure of the contraceptive used during coitus, or rapes.
Statement II: The strict conditions laid down for MTP in India are mainly meant to check the spread of sexually transmitted infections.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Only Statement I is correct.
The passage gives the legal conditions for MTP in India, but it does not say why MTPs are done or why strict conditions were laid down. Medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) is the intentional or voluntary ending of a pregnancy before full term. The Government of India legalised it in 1971 with strict conditions to avoid its misuse.
Statement I: MTPs are performed to get rid of unwanted pregnancies due to casual unprotected intercourse, failure of the contraceptive used during coitus, or rapes. — True. These are the reasons the book gives for MTP. MTPs are also needed where continuing the pregnancy could be harmful or even fatal to the mother, the foetus or both.
Statement II: The strict conditions laid down for MTP in India are mainly meant to check the spread of sexually transmitted infections. — False. MTP ends a pregnancy; it has nothing to do with the spread of STIs. The strict conditions are meant to check indiscriminate and illegal female foeticides, which are reported to be high in India. The passage adds that the 2017 Act also aims to reduce illegal abortions and the maternal deaths they cause.
NCERT Extract:
Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) – “… Government of India legalised MTP in 1971 with some strict conditions to avoid its misuse. Such restrictions are all the more important to check indiscriminate and illegal female foeticides which are reported to be high in India. … Obviously the answer is –to get rid of unwanted pregnancies either due to casual unprotected intercourse or failure of the contraceptive used during coitus or rapes. MTPs are also essential in certain cases where continuation of the pregnancy could be harmful or even fatal either to the mother or to the foetus or both.”