Question:

Assertion (A): Abortion may be induced at twenty weeks of gestation without second medical opinion.

Reason (R): The conditions for medical termination of pregnancy have been liberalized in India.

Show Hint

Check how many doctors' opinions the MTP Act needs once a pregnancy crosses 12 weeks.
Updated On: Jul 7, 2026
  • Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
  • Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.
  • A is true but R is false.
  • A is false but R is true.
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understand the assertion.
The assertion claims that a pregnancy can be ended at twenty weeks without a second doctor's opinion. Under India's Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, the rule depends on how far the pregnancy has gone. Up to 12 weeks, the opinion of one registered medical practitioner is enough. Between 12 and 20 weeks, the law requires the opinion of two registered medical practitioners, not one, before the termination can be carried out. Since twenty weeks falls in this second band, a second opinion is legally required. So the assertion is false.

Step 2: Understand the reason.
The reason states that the rules around MTP in India have been made less strict over time. This is a true historical fact. The MTP Act widened the grounds for legal termination, covering risk to the mother's physical or mental health, fetal abnormality, and pregnancy from contraceptive failure or rape, and it fixed the current gestation limits and doctor-opinion requirements described above. So the reason is true on its own.

Step 3: Decide the correct code.
Since the assertion is false but the reason is a true, independent statement about Indian law, this matches the pattern where A is false but R is true.

Step 4: Rule out the other options.
Options (a) and (b) both need A to be true, which it is not, since two opinions and not one are required at twenty weeks. Option (c) needs A true and R false, but here it is A that is false, not R.

Final Answer:
A is false but R is true.
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