New Delhi, Feb 19 (UNI) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the historic Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill 2020 that seeks to regulate the Assisted Reproductive Technology services in the country and provide infertile couples with ethical practices in Assisted reproductive technology (ART).
Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Women and Child Minister Smriti Irani said the ATP Bill and the Medical Termination of Pregnance Bills were "most progressive" Bills, giving women reproductive rights.
Today's move comes close on the heels of the introduction in Parliament of the Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2020, and the approval of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill 2020, all path-breaking measures to protect women’s reproductive rights.
The ART Regulation Bill 2020 is the most recent, in a series of legislations approved by the Union Cabinet to protect and safeguard the reproductive rights of women. The bill 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 respectively will regulate and supervise assisted reproductive technology clinics and assisted reproductive technology banks, she said.
On enactment of the Bill by Parliament, the Central Government shall notify the date of the commencement of the Act. Consequently, the National Board will be constituted which will lay down the code of conduct to be observed by persons working at clinics, set the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by clinics and banks.
Under the Bill, States and Union Territories shall constitute the State Boards and state authorities within three months of the Centre's notification.
The Bill also provides for National Registry and Registration Authority to maintain a Central database and assist the National Board in its functioning. It proposes stringent punishment for those practising sex selection, sale of human embryos or gametes, running agencies/rackets/organisations for such unlawful practices.
With Assisted reproductive technology (ART) growing in leaps and bounds in the past few years, India has one of the highest growths in the ART centres and the number of ART cycles performed every year. ART, including in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), has given hope to a multitude of persons suffering from infertility, but also introduced a plethora of legal, ethical and social issues.
India has become one of the major centres of this 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), IVF, ICSI, PGD and gestational surrogacy. Despite this, there is yet no standardisation of protocols and reporting is still very inadequate.
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