The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020, which proposes the establishment of a national registry and registration authority for all clinics and medical professionals serving in the field.
The ART bill, which was approved by the Union Cabinet last year, seeks to set minimum standards and codes of conduct for fertility clinics and egg/sperm banks.
Moving the Bill for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said it was tabled in Parliament in September, 2020, and the Lower House had referred it to a standing committee.
Many suggestions came from the standing committee and the government considered them, he said.
The standing committee’s report on the Bill was submitted in March this year. Mandaviya said,
Many such ART clinics have been running in the country without regulation. A need was felt for regulation of such clinics as there are implications on the health of those who undertake the procedure.
About the Bill
The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020 seeks for the regulation and supervision of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) clinics and ART banks, prevention of misuse, safe and ethical practice of ART services and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, be taken into consideration.
The major benefit of the Act would be that it will regulate the Assisted Reproductive Technology services in the country. Consequently, infertile couples will be more ensured/confident of the ethical practices in ARTs.
The origins of the bill can be traced back to the “National Guidelines for Accreditation, Supervision and Regulation of ART Clinics in India”, drafted by the ICMR in 2005. Three years later, the ICMR came out with the draft ART (Regulation) Bill and Rules 2008.
Once the Bill is enacted by the Parliament, the Central Government shall notify the date of the commencement of the Act. Consequently, the National Board will be constituted.
The National Board shall lay down a code of conduct to be observed by persons working at clinics, to set the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by clinics and banks.
The states and Union Territories shall constitute the State Boards and State Authorities within three months of the notification by the Central government.
The State Board shall have the responsibility to follow the policies and plans laid by the National Board for clinics and banks in the state.
The Bill also provides for National Registry and Registration Authority to maintain a Central database and assist the National Board in its functioning. The Bill also proposes a stringent punishment for those practising sex selection, sale of human embryos or gametes, running agencies/rackets/organisations for such unlawful practices.
According to PRS Legislative, a child born through ART will be deemed to be a biological child of the commissioning couple and will be entitled to the rights and privileges available to a natural child of the commissioning couple. A donor will not have any parental rights over the child.
ART Regressive, Against Single Men & LGBTQ Community
Opposition members in Lok Sabha Wednesday attacked the government for excluding live-in couples, single men and the LGBTQ community from the ambit of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2021, attacking the legislation as “discriminatory” and “patriarchal”.
Congress Member of Parliament Karti P Chidambaram, who opened the debate on the Bill, said,
This law is not a Hindu law, it is actually a Victorian law.
He invoked the Mahabharata and the Puranas several times, saying,
Our epics have so many instances of unconventional births.
Adding that the bill is “discriminatory”, Karti further said,
This law has not come from the Hindu liberal traditions. This law has come from the completely regressive, Victorian, and colonial mindset. I will tell you why. This law excludes many people, rather than it includes.
When I have given you so many instances of unconventional births and unconventional unions in our Hindu epics, this law only allows married people to have access to this technology. It does not allow LGBTQ people to have access to this technology. It does not allow single men to have access to this technology.
Karti also added,
This law does not take into account the new realities of India. Of course, these new realities are not new realities. These were there in our ancient scriptures. Those unions which were always there, were suppressed by the colonial mentality.
These unions must also be given access to this technology. The LGBTQ population, live-in couples, and single men must also have access to this technology if they want so.
Describing the bill as “patriarchal”, Karti said,
That is again a hallmark of this government. A person who is capable of donating an egg, has to be married and has to have a child who is at least three years old; only then can she become a donor. A single woman cannot be a donor. Again, this reeks of patriarchy.
Karti, who represents Sivaganga constituency in Tamil Nadu, questioned the privacy of donors. He said,
You want the Aadhaar card for the donor because you want to identify the donor through that Aadhaar card. But the donor has to be anonymous. What if there is a leak of data.
Supriya Sule of the NCP (Baramati, Maharashtra) wanted to ask the Health Minister how the Surrogacy Bill and the ART Bill would complement each other. She asked,
Besides the couples who want children, there is a cross-section of single people in this country today who want to have children, especially the LGBTQ community and single fathers.
Because of the 2017 adoption rule, single men cannot adopt a girl and because they cannot have this, they cannot avail this Bill. I think this is something we as a society need to introspect on.
BJD’s Anubhav Mohanty also said the Bill discriminates against the LGBTQ community.
He said the health minister should reconsider this Bill and should not bring it in in a hurry as there are some issues that need consideration. Mohanty also spoke about Parental Alienation of children during divorce and suggested setting up of a separate ministry for children.
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