The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved a legislative change to allow pregnancies to be terminated till 24 weeks of gestation, accepting a longstanding demand from doctors and women’s groups.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020 looks to extend the upper gestation limit for abortions from the current 20 weeks to 24 weeks for certain categories of women, to be defined under the amended MTP Rules.

These categories will cover rape survivors, incest victims, minors and other vulnerable women, the government said. The upper gestation limit will not apply in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities, diagnosed by a medical board to be established under the rules.

Currently, the 20-week upper limit can be waived only if continued pregnancy carries a threat to the life of the mother

“We’ve won a 12-year battle,” Nikhil Datar, an obstetrician and gynaecologist in Mumbai, told The Telegraph. Datar had in 2008 petitioned the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the cut-off for legal abortions from 20 weeks to 24 weeks.

Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar, who announced the cabinet decision, called it a “progressive step” that will help adolescent girls and rape victims, among others.

Currently, women who seek termination of their pregnancies after 20 weeks have to approach the courts.

Javadekar said the amendment would reduce maternal mortality. “After 20 weeks, if they didn’t get official permission, (the women) used to resort to informal channels, unsafe MTPs,” he said.

The Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Societies of India, a body of doctors, had in 2011 released a document urging the government to amend the law. It had argued that late terminations often needed to be done for specific medical reasons.

In July 2017, the Supreme Court had allowed the abortion of a foetus beyond 24 weeks of gestation after it had been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called pulmonary atresia.

Over the past decade, Datar has helped dozens of women in similar predicaments receive approvals for abortion from various courts.