This week the Rajya Sabha passed a much-needed amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act of 1971. This new Bill ensures that women are provided access to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, and humanitarian grounds by allowing MTPs for up to 20 - 24 weeks for special categories of women. While the categories are not specified and are left to the States to decide, they are expected to include survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women like the differently abled and minors.