NEW DELHI: A total of 1.56 crore abortions took place across India in 2015,parliament was informed on Friday.

“A report published in Lancet Global Health Medical Journal mentions thatabout 1.56 crore abortions took place across India in 2015. The study isbased on a sample of six states and is not representative of the country,”said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwani KumarChoubey in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Choubey also said that the government provides safe and ComprehensiveAbortion Care (CAC) services to women in health facilities.

“There are various reasons for unsafe abortions like confidentiality,stigma, need for anonymity, provider bias and self-medication.Disaggregated data on various methods of abortion is unavailable,” saidChoubey.

The National Health Mission (NHM) provides support to the states forprovision of services for comprehensive abortion.

“Guidelines on Comprehensive Abortion Care services and Medical Methods ofAbortions (MMA) have been provided to all the states in the country tofacilitate the implementation of these services,” said Choubey.