The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act allows legal abortion in India. If you are 18 years or older, only your consent is required. Abortions can be safely performed by registered doctors at approved centres.

4 days ago - Foundation for Reproductive Health ... Medical Abortion Drugs in the Markets of Six Indian States, 2020. This report indicated that about 56% chemists reported regulatory barriers to stocking and sale of these drugs. Moreover, the conflation in the MTP Act and the DCGI approval for usage of MA drugs only exacerbates the problem further. The MTP Rules allow an approved ...

December 13, 2022 - On International Safe Abortion Day on 28 September 2022, the Supreme Court of India extended the right to legal abortion to 20 weeks’ gestation for all women and to 24 weeks’ gestation under special circumstances.12 With this change, India’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971—one of the older abortion laws in the world—also became one of the more progressive.

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September 29, 2022 - NEW DELHI (AP) — India's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that all women, regardless of marital status, can obtain abortions up to 24 weeks into their pregnancies.

September 10, 2025 - Supreme Court rules safe and legal abortion under Indian law applies to all women, regardless of marital status.

October 3, 2023 - Any procedure or technique performed on a man or woman for the purpose of sex-selection is illegal. Any procedure or technique performed on a woman for the purpose of sex-determination is illegal. Since, abortion of female foetuses is high in India, both you and your doctor can be punished for conducting a diagnostic test to figure out the sex of the child.

July 12, 2025 - Abortion is legal in India, but access, awareness, and societal attitudes matter just as much as the law. The 2025 abortion laws signal a more inclusive, rights-based approach. With the implementation of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) rules, increased recognition of abortion rights ...

October 12, 2023 - Abortion was allowed up to 24 weeks for certain classes of women, defined under the MTP Rules.

Yes! Abortion is legal in India under the Medical Termination Act (MTP) Act. Abortions up to 20 weeks require approval from one doctor. For 20-24 weeks, approval is required from two doctors, and only under specific conditions.

Abortion is permitted in India only on certain grounds, i.e. only if a particular reason exists.

May 2, 2026 - Abortion in India is primarily governed by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, amended in 2021 to expand access and clarify rights.

October 4, 2025 - The law on abortion in India is primarily governed by Sections 312-316 of the Indian Penal Code and the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

March 23, 2026 - Marital Status: In 2022 (X v. Principal Secretary, Delhi), the SC ruled that unmarried women are equally eligible for abortions up to 24 weeks, ending a long-standing legal discrimination.

However, India since the 1970s made a clear stance on the matter of abortion. Respecting the right to personal liberty, reproductive freedom of women and upholding the importance of women’s health, Medical Termination Pregnancy (MTP) has been legal in India since 1971.

January 16, 2025 - Medical Practitioners: Only certified doctors in approved facilities can perform abortions. India’s federal structure means states can implement additional guidelines within the framework of the MTP Act.

July 19, 2023 - Despite there being a legal framework and a set of rules and regulations, the present scenarios and the studies conducted by various national and international institutes show that abortion is still a frantic and challenging experience. The Supreme Court in the case of Suchita Srivastava & Anr v. Chandigarh Administration (2009) held that a woman has the right to make reproductive choices and that it comes under the ambit of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

The case also highlighted the ethical issue faced by the doctors in similar situations.[26] The amended MTP Rules also recognize medical abortion methods and allow a registered medical practitioner (e.g. the family physician) to provide mifepristone + misoprostol in a clinic setting to terminate a pregnancy up to seven weeks, provided that the doctor has either on-site capability or access to a facility capable of performing surgical abortion in the event of a failed or incomplete medical abortion. However, the Drug Controller of India has approved mifepristone provision only by a gynaecologist, thus effectively restricting access to women in urban areas.

September 9, 2024 - Wade, India’s top court moved to expand access to safe and legal abortions by explicitly giving the same rights to single women and survivors of marital rape (which is yet to be criminalized in India) as other populations who were previously protected.