Urban shock: 20% of illegal abortions in Tamil Nadu from city

From April to September this year alone, a whopping 6,379, out of the total 30,449 abortions were done in Chennai. A vast majority of these are allegedly not for medically accepted reasons, according to health department officials. 

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971) allows the woman to terminate her pregnancy on various grounds, including congenital anomaly, socio economic status of mother and pregnancy resulting out of rape. However, department officials said that the medically accepted reasons comprise only one per cent of the total MTPs. 

“For those seeking MTP in the case of 12 weeks and above till 20 weeks, the MTP Act specifies that two medical professionals should confirm that continuing the pregnancy would be a threat to the mother. However, many private hospitals flout this rule. Often, more than medical reasons, these are unwanted pregnancies,” said one of the officials at the department. “But the high numbers can be a worrying sign as termination of pregnancies after the first trimester can be a huge threat to the life of the mother.”

Dr Nithiya Ramamurthy, senior gynaecologist, Fortis Malar Hospital, denied that there was any other reason, apart from medical-related for MTPs. “Moreover, beyond six weeks, these are not MTPs but surgical terminations and there is always an internal committee looking at exceptions after 12 weeks. An external opinion is also sought, in such cases,” she added.

Activists point out that MTPs that are now not linked to the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, which was enacted to stop female foeticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India, banning prenatal sex determination. They add that sex selective abortions are still rampant and the numbers do not reflect the problem. 

Jeeva Nantham, state convenor, Campaign against Sex Selective Abortion (CASSA), said, “We need a single system to monitor pregnancies. As per our data, 40-45 per cent of the scanning centres in the state reveal the sex of the foetus. These centres include those in Chennai, Madurai, Karur, Theni, Sivagangai, etc. We need to track the abortions that are done in second trimester as these could reveal the true picture. The PCPNDT Act has helped stabilise sex ratio in districts like Dharmapuri and Theni. We just need to implement it effectively.” 

According to 2011 census data, the child sex ratio in the state is 943, a mere rise, when compared to 942 in 2001. The Indian Society of clinical sonologists (ISOCS) has been batting for Union Minister Maneka Gandhi’s suggestion to reveal the sex of the foetus and register it. Dr R Udaya Kumar, ultra-sonologist and secretary of ISOCS, said, “Revealing the sex and registering the same increases accountability. The act in the current form has done little to correct the sex ratio.”

Dr GR Ravindranath, General Secretary, Doctors Association for Social Equality, said that addressing the underlying causes for the preference of boys over girls would be far more effective than implementing impractical laws.