Syllabus subtopic: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.

Prelims and Mains focus: about the key features of the bill and its significance

News: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister approved the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020 to monitor medical procedures used to assist people to achieve pregnancy.

Background

India has one of the highest growths in the number ART centres and ART cycles performed every year. India has become one of the major centres of this global fertility industry, with reproductive medical tourism becoming a significant activity. This has also introduced a plethora of legal, ethical and social issues; yet, there is no standardisation of protocols and reporting is still very inadequate.

Key features of the Bill

• The Bill provides for a national Board which will lay down a code of conduct to be observed by those operating clinics.

• It will also formulate minimum standards for laboratory and diagnostic equipment and practices to be followed by human resources employed by clinics and banks.

• The States and Union Territories will also have to form State Boards and State authorities within three months of the notification of the proposed legislation.

• Under the proposed law, a national registry and registration authority will maintain a database to assist the national Board to perform its functions.

• The Bill also proposes stringent punishment for those who practise sex selection, indulge in sale of human embryos or gametes and those who operate rackets.

• The Bill will also ensure confidentiality of intending couples and protect the rights of the child.

Note: In the Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2020, the government is planning to restrict the maximum age of surrogates from “above the marriageable age” to 50 years.

Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020

• India has one of the highest growths in the number ART centres and ART cycles performed every year.
• India has become one of the major centres of this global fertility industry, with reproductive medical tourism becoming a significant activity.
• This has also introduced a plethora of legal, ethical and social issues; yet, there is no standardisation of protocols and reporting is still very inadequate.

Key features of the Bill

• The Bill provides for a national Board which will lay down a code of conduct to be observed by those operating clinics.
• It will also formulate minimum standards for laboratory and diagnostic equipment and practices to be followed by human resources employed by clinics and banks.
• The States and Union Territories will also have to form State Boards and State authorities within three months of the notification of the proposed legislation.
• Under the proposed law, a national registry and registration authority will maintain a database to assist the national Board to perform its functions.
• The Bill also proposes stringent punishment for those who practise sex selection, indulge in sale of human embryos or gametes and those who operate rackets.
• The Bill will also ensure confidentiality of intending couples and protect the rights of the child.

‘ART not appropriate for live-in or same-sex couples’

• Given the Indian family structure, social milieu and norms, it will not be very easy to accept a child whose parents are together but not legally married, says the 129-page report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare on the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) (Regulation) Bill, 2020, submitted in Parliament earlier this week.
• The committee, in its report, said that keeping the best interest of the child born through ART services and other parentage issues in case of their separation, it would not be appropriate to allow live-in couples and same sex couples to avail themselves of ART.
• “The rights of people in same-sex relationship and live-in relationships frequently keep getting redefined; however, the ART Bill endorsed the recommendations of the Select Committee on Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, wherein the definition of “couple” has been retained and live-in couples and same-sex couples have been excluded from availing surrogacy services,” the Committee said in its report.
• In its observation, the committee expressed anguish over the fact there were only six IVF (in vitro fertilisation) clinics in the government sector,while the remaining thousands of IVF centres were in the private sector.
• “The committee, therefore, recommends that the government should ensure that each medical college or premier Government Hospital/ Institute must have IVF/ART facilities so as to enable the common poor masses to avail the services of ART,” it said.
• Stating the India had become one of the major centres for ART, the committee noted that “there are only guidelines of ART, and no law still exists.’’