BackChildren born out of IVF, other assisted methods to enjoy rights at par with biological ones
ART bill proposes that a child born via assisted technology should enjoy the same rights as a natural-born childThe Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Regulation Bill 2020 makes pre-genetic implantation testing mandatory
PremiumNEW DELHI : Giving more teeth to reproductive and child rights, the Union cabinet on Wednesday approved a bill proposing that children born through assisted technology should enjoy all the rights of a natural-born biological child.
Further, to avoid any genetic diseases in the population born through these technologies, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Regulation Bill 2020 makes pre-genetic implantation testing mandatory. These allow doctors to test embryos for any possible abnormal chromosomes before they are transferred to the uterus.
India has become a major centre of the global fertility industry, with reproductive medical tourism becoming a significant activity. Clinics in India offer nearly all the ART services—gamete donation, intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and gestational surrogacy. However, in spite of so much activity in India, there is yet no standardization of protocols and reporting is still very inadequate.
India has seen some of the highest growths in ART centres and the number of ART cycles performed every year. Assisted technology has given hope to thousands suffering from infertility, but also introduced a plethora of legal, ethical and social issues around it.
“The need to regulate the ART services is mainly to protect affected women and the children from exploitation. The oocyte donor needs to be supported by an insurance cover, protected from multiple embryo implantation and children born through ART should be provided all rights equivalent to a biological children," a government statement said.
“The cryopreservation of sperm, oocytes and embryo by the ART Banks needs to be regulated and the bill intends to make Pre-Genetic Implantation Testing mandatory for the benefit of the child born through assisted reproductive technology."
The move comes only a few weeks after the introduction of the Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2020 that aims to ban commercial surrogacy and the approval of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill 2020 which seeks to provide safe, affordable and accessible abortion services to women who need to terminate pregnancy under certain specific conditions.
The ART bill also makes provisions for safe and ethical practice of assisted reproductive technology services in the country. Through the bill, the National Board, the State Boards, the National Registry and the State Registration Authorities will regulate and supervise ART clinics and ART banks.
The cabinet also approved constitution of a 12-member technology group under the principal scientific adviser to the government to give policy advice on latest technologies, their commercialization and developing an overall road map for selected key technologies.
The cabinet revamped the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) for easier implementation. According to the changes, the Centre’s subsidy will be raised from 50% to 90% for North-eastern states. The changes will be applicable from the kharif 2020 season. The government also cleared the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) till 2024-25.
The Cabinet also approved the constitution of the 22nd Law Commission which advises the government on complex legal issues. The term of the previous law panel ended on 31 August last year.
With the cabinet approval, the law ministry will now notify the new panel, which will have a term of three years. The panel will have a full-time chairperson, four full-time members (including a member secretary), and law and legislative secretaries in the law ministry as ex-officio members. “It will also have not more than five part-time members," an official statement said.
PTI contributed to this story.
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