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 that about 1.56 crore abortions took place across India in 2015. The study is based on a sample of six states and is not representative of the country," said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwani Kumar Choubey in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Choubey also said that the government provides safe and Comprehensive Abortion 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," said Choubey.

The National Health Mission (NHM) provides support to the states for the provision of services for comprehensive abortion."Guidelines on Comprehensive Abortion Care services and Medical Methods of Abortions (MMA) have been provided to all the states in the country to facilitate the implementation of these services," said Choubey.