While Niketa Mehta’s abortion plea has raised questions about India’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, the legislation passed in 1971 was much advanced for its period of formulation. It was also before most countries had such a law:

•US: The pro-choice vs pro-abortion debate is an old one in the US and also figures in election campaigns. The landmark case was the 1970 Roe vs Wade, when attorneys filed a suit on behalf of Jane Roe who claimed her pregnancy was the result of rape. Overturning a Texas interpretation of the law, the Supreme Court in the case made abortion legal and held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without restriction and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy. The US Supreme Court went on to strike down several state restrictions on abortions in a long series of cases stretching from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, but upheld restrictions on funding. Now most of the states in the US allow medical termination of pregnancy till the 24th week.

•FRANCE: During the Nazi occupation during World War II, abortion was made a capital crime. While this was abolished after the War, women went in droves to the UK after it legalised abortion in 1967. France legalised abortion in 1975, available on demand until the 10th week of pregnancy. After the 10th week, two physicians must certify that a woman’s health is endangered or the foetus is handicapped. France was also the first country to legalise the use of pill for abortion in 1988, allowing its use up to seven weeks of pregnancy.

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