We may sigh in relief that, unlike the US, abortion is not criminalised in India and our women have the right to choose giving birth. But how true is this? Well, a study by Foundation for Reproductive Health Services India, states that approximately 95.5 per cent of Indian women are uninformed of the existence of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy MTP Act, which gives access to safe abortion services. 

Moreover, the MTP Act 1971 amendment is unknown to 95 per cent of frontline healthcare providers (FLWs) or ASHA workers who are the initial point of contact for women. 99 per cent of women in India didn't know the laws have changed.

The study conducted by FRHS in four Indian states - Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, which was officially published on their website, says that one in three women interviewed for the study was either not sure or didn’t consider abortion as a health right.

“The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act was modified 1.5 years ago but abortion seekers are still unaware of the changes brought about in the act. We found that even service providers (doctors) in Rajasthan were unclear about the shift in gestational age from 20 to 24 weeks,” said Debanjana Choudhuri, Primary Researcher & Director-Programmes and Partnerships, FRHS India / MSI Reproductive Choices.

Ashutosh Kaushik, Chief Executive Officer, FRHS India said, "The MTP Act amendment allows greater autonomy to women but lack of awareness among abortion seekers and healthcare service providers is causing a hindrance in bringing the needed change. Abortion is a basic human right, and FRHS strongly believes in 'children by choice, not chance.' For this to be successful, the government needs to deploy mass awareness activities in urban and rural areas.”

The study finds that 99 per cent of women in India didn't know the laws that allows abortion up to 24 weeks 'for special categories of women,' up from the existing 20-week gestation period. Less than one-third of women in every state but Uttar Pradesh (43 per cent) had ever seen, read, or heard a message about a safe abortion. 

The study findings also reveal that more than two-thirds of the married women look for Frontline Health Workers (FLWs) like ASHA/AWW/ANM for main source of information for pregnancies/abortion, for unmarried women (50 per cent) mostly rely on social media platforms. Around 33 per cent of unmarried women rely on teachers as a key source of information.