utside, the mid-morning heat is stifling. It\u2019s not humid like the bustling metropolises of Mumbai or Kolkata; here in New Delhi it\u2019s a dry heat, the type of heat that exhausts you, made worse by a thick layer of dust which sticks to your face and stings your eyes.<\/p>\n
On the maternity ward inside the hospital at Jamia Hamdard University all the metal gurneys are taken, some with sheets, some without.<\/p>\n
Many women are curled up on their sides, their arms embracing the tiny babies they\u2019ve recently given life to. Their mothers and mothers-in-law crowd the otherwise sparse room with laughs of joy and excitement.<\/p>\n
A few women, however, are not here to give birth. Vidya*, aged 18, is one of them. She arrived at the hospital yesterday with her mother. She\u2019s two months pregnant, and unmarried \u2013 a huge taboo in India.<\/p>\n
India legalised abortion in 1971 when it passed the\u00a0Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act<\/a>,\u00a0but an abortion can\u2019t be performed solely on the woman\u2019s request. The procedure is allowed\u00a0if her physical or mental health is under threat or the child that would be born would have \u201csuch physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped\u201d.<\/p>\n The provision includes women under 18, as long as they have their guardian\u2019s consent, and women made pregnant by rape. A woman doesn\u2019t need the consent of her husband and can legally terminate at up to 20 weeks\u2019 gestation.<\/p>\n One clause, however, is specifically reserved for married women: abortion because of contraceptive failure.<\/p>\nReference:<\/h4>\n
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