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After ‘Freedom of Literature’ Bill, Shashi Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram, introduces another Private Member Bill titled “Women’s Sexual, Reproductive and Menstrual Rights Bill, 2018, which criminalizes Marital rape and ensures autonomy in termination of pregnancy by a woman. Exception 2 of section 375 of the Indian Penal Code decriminalizes the sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, and the bill seeks to delete the provision from the Code.
The Bill contains a proviso which states that “the Women’s ethnicity, religion, caste, education, profession, clothing preference, entertainment preference, and social circle, personal opinion, past sexual conduct or any other related grounds shall not be a reason to presume her consent to the sexual activity.” Shashi Tharoor said that the present laws do not perceive a ‘woman’ as an individual capable of making her own choices, including sexual and reproductive choices as a wife.
The Bill proposes to change the title of‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971’ to ‘Legal Termination of Pregnancy Act’. This proposal is made on account of misconception among the doctors in rural areas. The doctors were afraid of being arrested under section 312 of the IPC, and while the provision actually provides for punishment to anyone who causes voluntary miscarriage including the woman herself. The Act provides 20 weeks for an abortion, and the proposed Bill seeks to extend the time to 24 weeks.
Every woman must have the right to abort her child by making a formal request until the 12th week of pregnancy. Nonetheless, a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy sustains until 20th week subject to a condition— existence of risk to the life of the pregnant woman, or of grave injury to her physical or mental health; or existence of substantial risk of physical, mental or genetic abnormality of the foetus which should certified by at least one Registered Medical Practitioner.
The existing act has a timeline of just 20 weeks for terminating the pregnancy under the circumstances where the woman’s survival is at risk. Therefore, the other women who are victims of rape and disability had to face legal challenges. On account of these drawbacks, the Bill proposes to extend the time for termination of pregnancy to 24 weeks; and if the foetus becomes viable, the child’s right to life would be the choice of its mother. The Bill seeks to amend the Right to Education Act by adding provisions for mobilising the sanitary napkins in schools and offices at free of cost.
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