Mumbai: For the second consecutive year, Mumbai recorded no abortion-linked death in 2025-26, dropping from 19 in 2017-18, shows reply to an RTI plea. More than 20,000 such procedures were performed during the period.A doctor from BMC’s health and family welfare department said the city has seen an overall decrease in maternal mortality as well as abortion-linked fatality over the last few years, with monthly figures dropping into single digits.In 2023-24, two deaths were linked to abortions—one due to septicaemia (bacterial infection of the uterus shortly after abortion) and the other due to hepatic encephalopathy (decline in brain function due to underlying liver disorder). The 19 deaths in 2017-2018, which were during or soon after abortions, occurred in patients with severe comorbidities like heart disease, tuberculosis and HIV. Only three of them were caused directly by septicaemia.Over 92% of the abortions in 2025-26 were attributed to “improper and inadequate use of contraception method or failure of contraception”, according to the RTI plea reply. A similar trend was observed in the year before (see graphic). The health department official said the figures include cases where no contraception was used at all.A gynaecologist at Sion Hospital noted that the absolute number of abortions has declined, which in turn has led to a dip in procedure-linked mortalities. Abortions plunged 41% from over 35,000 in 2017-18 to 20,552 in 2025-26. “There is increasing reluctance among medical practitioners to provide second-trimester abortions out of fear of false allegations regarding sex determination,” said the Sion Hospital doctor.Dr Nikhil Datar, a city-based gynaecologist, said the data collection mechanism for abortions needs serious improvement. He said while BMC only collects data from ‘registered abortion centres’, the law permits any gynaecologist to prescribe medical termination pills directly from their private clinics. While completely legal and compliant, these cases are omitted from official figures because independent clinics are not classified as ‘registered centres’.“The distinction widened after abortion evolved from surgical procedures to also include medical methods. A registered abortion centre is legally required to handle the surgical aspects, but a doctor does not need a registered centre to prescribe a pill-based abortion. The doctor can do it from the centre or at their own clinic,” said Dr Datar.He said while doctors have spent years requesting BMC to include private clinic cases in its data, the civic body still lacks the necessary mechanism and continues to insist on counting only procedures performed at registered centres.Dr Daksha Shah, executive health officer, BMC, however, said data from private clinics is also collected as per the rules. “Many who avail themselves of medical termination of pregnancy at various tertiary hospitals are also from outside Mumbai,” she said.
