The Parliament has amended the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971. The Amendment Act of the Parliament received the assent of the President on 25th March and came into force from 24th September.

The Amendment inserts a clause defining or explaining termination of pregnancy: “termination of pregnancy” means a procedure to terminate a pregnancy by using medical or surgical methods.  (Clause (e))

Whereas in the MTP Act of 1971 termination of pregnancy, that is abortion, was legal only up to 20 weeks, by this Amendment, now it is legal up to 24 weeks, if a registered medical practitioner decides in good faith that -
i)    “the continuance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or grave injury to her physical or mental health; or
ii)     there is a substantial risk that if the child were born, it would suffer from any serious physical or mental abnormality”.

The only requirement is that for abortion beyond 20 weeks up to 24 weeks the opinion of not less than two registered medical practitioners is necessary. And regarding abortion necessitated by the diagnosis of any substantial foetal abnormalities, the diagnosis of a Medical Board constituted by State Government or Union Territory, consisting of a Gynaecologist, a Paediatrician, a Radiologist or Sonologist and any other member, as the case may be, is required. 

This Medical Board can allow or deny MTP even beyond 24 weeks of gestation period ensuring that the procedure would be safe for the woman. It can allow abortion beyond 24 weeks if the child is likely to suffer serious physical or mental abnormalities; where there is change in marital status during a pregnancy (e.g., divorce, widowhood), and pregnancy in disaster or emergency situations as may be declared by the government. 

The Amendment further explains what constitutes grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman: 

1. “Where any pregnancy occurs as a result of failure of any device or method used by any woman or her partner for the purpose of limiting the number of children, or preventing pregnancy, the anguish caused by such pregnancy may be presumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman.”

2. “Where any pregnancy is alleged by the pregnant woman to have been caused by rape, the anguish caused by the pregnancy shall be presumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman”. 

Thus, when contraception fails, abortion is available as a backup solution. And when a woman becomes pregnant as a result of rape, it can easily be terminated. I foresee a gross misuse of the provision ‘grave injury to mental health’ which can always be presumed whenever a pregnancy is unwanted.

Furthermore, “No registered medical practitioner shall reveal the name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated under this Act except to a person authorized by any law for the time being in force”.  Whoever contravenes the above provision will be liable to punishment with imprisonment up to one year or with fine or with both.

Therefore, the Amendment of the MTP Act legalizes abortion up to 24 weeks. The Act permits the killing of a six-month child in the womb! The foetus is viable and can survive at six months outside the mother’s womb. A recent case was reported from Fr. Muller’s Hospital in Mangalore when a premature baby boy, Loyden, who survived even after being born at 25 weeks, weighing only 669 grams. 

A foetus at six months (24 weeks) is well developed. Already in the first month the embryo, about ¼ inch long has its heart beating and pumping blood through the tiny body. Development of eyes, ears, mouth, nose, kidneys and liver has begun. Arm and leg buds have developed. In the second month the skeleton is being formed. In the third month foetus is about three inches long and sex can be distinguished and develops unique finger prints and now has finger and toe nails. It moves about, kicking and making a fist. Facial characteristics begin to resemble those of the parents. It is a question of only further development and growth in the last three months in the mother’s womb until birth. 

The Act as well as the present Amendment upholds the rights of the woman, including her right to privacy, but the fundamental right to life of the innocent, weak, voiceless and defenceless child in the womb is ignored and blatantly violated. 

The provision of the requirement of the opinion of two registered medical practitioners and or that of the ‘Medical Board’ is meaningless when no one bothers to check what a doctor has done. Besides, the good faith clause will save him/her. Who can verify if the decision to abort was taken in good faith or bad faith? Sex determination tests as well as selective abortion of female foetuses are illegal in India. Yet they are rampant. Has anyone been convicted so far? Indeed, MTP Act is a licence to kill!

The MTP Act, the Principal Act of 1971 as well as the present Amendment, though legal, is immoral.  It goes against the sacredness and inviolability of human life, which is a precious gift from God. Life begins with conception and not after birth. I would like to present here briefly the main Catholic teaching on the sacredness and inviolability of human life and on the gravity of the sin of direct abortion. 

While explaining the meaning of the fifth Commandment of the Decalogue, “You shall not kill” (Ex.20:13; Dt.5:17), the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) underscores the sanctity of human life. “Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative act of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of Life from the beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstances claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.” (CCC 2258) 

The Church has always, from the first century itself, affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. In the Didache´ it is clearly said: “You shall not kill by abortion the fruit of the womb and you shall not murder the infant already born.” This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to moral law (cf. CCC 2271).

Vatican II Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et Spes teaches with very clear and unequivocal terms that human life must be respected and protected: “Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.” (G.S.51)

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in its Declaration on Procured Abortion (1974) states that the human person has certain rights which are known as “human rights” and the first right of the human person is right to life. This is fundamental, the condition for all the others. Hence it must be protected above all others. (No.11)

It further teaches: “From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother; it is rather the life of a new human being with his own growth. It will never be made human if it were not human already” (No.12).  Furthermore, “The child itself, when grown up, will never have the right to choose suicide; no more may his parents choose death for the child while it is not of an age to decide for itself. Life is too fundamental a value to be weighed against even very serious disadvantages”. (No.14)

St. Pope John Paul the Great, in his Encyclical Letter, Evangelium Vitae (1995) on the Value and Inviolability of Human Life, defines procured abortion as “the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth” (E.V.58).

The Popes and the Church are well aware that sometimes the tragic and painful decision to abort the fruit of her own womb is made not for purely selfish reasons but out of a desire to protect certain important values such as her own health or a decent standard of living for the other members of the family. Sometimes it is feared that the child to be born would live in such conditions that it would be better if the birth did not take place (e.g., extreme poverty, genetic disorders, victim of rape etc.) But St. Pope John Paul affirms:

“Nevertheless, these reasons and others like them, however serious and tragic, can never justify the deliberate killing of an innocent human being” (Ibid.)

Many people use ambiguous terminology or euphemisms to refer to abortion, such as “interruption of pregnancy”, “Medical Termination of Pregnancy”, etc. which in fact, hide the seriousness of abortion as a grave moral evil. But that does not change the reality of things. We have to call a spade a spade. Abortion is the deliberate and direct killing of an innocent human being in the womb. It is tantamount to murder; it is terrorism in the womb; it is a veritable war on life.

It is estimated that annually over 15 to 16 million abortions take place in India. They constitute about 10% of world’s abortions. A veritable holocaust! In India due to male preference and anti-female mentality most of them are female foeticides, selective abortions of female children done after discovering the sex of the foetus. This is discrimination in the womb which adds to the gravity of sin. It has led to a skewed sex ratio in the country. About 900 girls to 1000 boys but in some States like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, etc. the ratio is much lower with 800 girls or even less than 800 to 1000 boys. 

St. John Paul II, the great defender of life, describes the pitiable plight of the innocent, weak and defenceless child in the womb: “The one eliminated is a human being at the very beginning of life. No one more absolutely innocent could be imagined.  In no way could this human being ever be considered an aggressor, much less an unjust aggressor! He or she is weak, defenceless, even to the point of lacking that minimal form of defence consisting in the poignant power of a new-born baby’s cries and tears. The unborn child is totally entrusted to the protection and care of the woman carrying him or her in the womb. And yet sometimes it is precisely the mother herself who makes the decision and asks for the child to be eliminated, and who then goes about having it done.” (Ibid.)

Pope St. John Paul II strongly condemned abortion as a grave moral disorder: “Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, in communion with Bishops…… I declare that direct abortion, that is abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. This doctrine is based on the natural law and upon the written Word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s Tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium” (E.V.62).

The Code of Canon Law punishes abortion with excommunication: “A person who actually procures an abortion incurs automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication” (C. 1398). The excommunication affects all those who commit this crime with knowledge of the penalty attached, and thus includes those accomplices without whose help the crime would not have been committed (cf. C. 1329, E.V.62).

We should also note here that many of the contraceptive pills as well as Intra Uterine Devices (IUDs) are not just contraceptive but abortifacient. They do not merely prevent conception but prevent implantation of the fertilized egg on the wall of the uterus, hence causing abortion of the zygote. 

Furthermore, any experimentation which involves killing or destruction of embryos is equal to abortion. “The use of human embryos or foetuses as an object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings who have a right to the same respect owed to a child once born, just as to every person” (E.V.63).  In the case of in vitro fertilization many embryos are produced either to be used as “biological material” or as providers of organs or tissue for transplants in the treatment of certain diseases. Some are used, others are frozen and kept for later use or eventually destroyed. “The killing of innocent human creatures, even if carried out to help others, constitutes an absolutely unacceptable act.” (Ibid)

Human life is sacred. It is a precious gift from God, the Author of life. It begins with conception and, therefore, must be respected and protected from the moment of conception to natural death. It is hoped this brief presentation will help the readers understand the sacredness and inviolability of human life and the gravity of the unspeakable crime of abortion. 

(The writer is the Bishop of Lucknow)