The Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) have objected to the Government’s move to allow AYUSH practitioners to conduct abortions, Union Health Minister JP Nadda informed the Rajya Sabha.
The Government had formulated a draft Bill to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, which will allow AYUSH practitioners, homeopaths and paramedical staff, excluding yoga and naturopathy, to administer medical methods of abortion with requisite training and certification.
According to IMA and FOGSI, MTP is to be done only by registered medical practitioners who are all trained qualified MBBS doctors, he said. Replying to another query, Nadda said the birth rate in India is greater than that of China and that the country’s population will cross China’s by 2028.
Nadda, however, said the population control measures taken by the Government are not ineffective. In yet another reply, he said India has extended a helping hand to countries with high polio ratio, like Afghanistan and Pakistan.