Lancet 2015 report on abortions in India not representative of whole country, says govt

The government on Friday informed parliament that a report in Lancet Global Health Medical Journal states that there were around 1.56 crore abortions in India in 2015, but the study is not representative of the entire country.

"A report published in Lancet Global Health Medical Journal mentions about 1.56 crore abortions took place across India in 2015. The study is based on a sample of six states and is not representative of the country," Minister of State for Health Ashwani Kumar Choubey told the Lok Sabha.

He said the government provides safe and comprehensive abortion care services to women in healthcare facilities.

Also read: Shocking! 2015 witnessed 15.6 million abortions in India, majority women took pills at home without adequate counselling

"There are various reasons for unsafe abortions like confidentiality, stigma, need for anonymity, provider bias, self-medication. Disaggregated data on various methods of abortion is unavailable," the minister said.

National Health Mission provides support to the states for provision of services for comprehensive abortion.

Guidelines on Comprehensive Abortion Care services and Medical Methods of Abortions have been provided to all states to facilitate implementation of these services, Choubey said.