Medical abortion is legal in India. But how does one avail it? What are the side-effects? Dr. Divya Vora tells Brut.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00In case of an abortion pill, it's usually a combination of two pills. One which causes
00:16the termination of pregnancy and separation of placenta. The other will cause softening
00:22of the cervix, opening of the passage and increase uterine contractions so that the
00:27abortus is expelled out. Now while there are a number of medicines that can be used for
00:32medical termination of pregnancy, the most commonly used combination is that of mifepristone
00:38and misoprostol. The emergency contraceptive pill and the abortion pills cannot be used
00:43interchangeably. One must never try and get those abortion pills over the counter and
00:49try to induce a medical abortion themselves. It's very unsafe and could be dangerous to
00:54health. According to the MTP Amendment Act of 2021, there are several conditions under
01:05which a woman can safely seek abortion services in India. These are therapeutic or medical
01:13indications in which having the baby may endanger the life of the mother or cause grave injury
01:20to her physical or mental health, where there is substantial risk of the child being born
01:25with a serious physical or mental abnormality, where the pregnancy is a result of sexual
01:31assault, socio-economic reasons such as where a woman already has children and has had an
01:38unplanned pregnancy and does not want the child first, failure of any contraception
01:43irrespective of whether the woman is married or unmarried, and in cases where the woman
01:49is mentally not sound. Those above the age of 18 do not require the consent of anyone
01:54other than their own to get the abortion. In India, abortion services can be available
02:04at various government hospitals, nursing homes and centres that have been approved by the
02:08Directorate of Health Services or by the Chief Medical Officer of the state. The MTP can
02:14be performed only by a registered medical practitioner who has a degree in obstetrics
02:19and gynaecology. Each abortion has to be confidential and has to be reported to the Director of
02:25Health Services. One may experience cramping like pain in the lower abdomen and a moderate
02:35amount of bleeding. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, fatigue may also be experienced
02:41by some people. The absolute contraindications of a medical termination of pregnancy are
02:50such as suspected ectopic pregnancy or when one does not know the location of the pregnancy,
02:56if there's any heart disease, if there's any asthma, if there's chronic kidney disease,
03:02if the person is on long-term corticosteroid therapy, if the person has any drug allergy
03:08or has any blood coagulation disorders or is on anticoagulant therapy. The relative
03:14contraindications of this are heavy smoking, someone who is above the age of 35, obesity
03:20and those suffering from hypertension. For someone who has had an uncomplicated and safe
03:29abortion, the person can resume to work in one to two days and can resume to even strenuous
03:35activities or exercises within one to two weeks. It is advisable not to indulge in any
03:41sexual activity for at least one to two weeks after the abortion and make a decision for
03:46future pregnancies only after discussing with the doctor.