In this article, we examine the legislative debates on abortion law in 1971, 2002, and 2020-21 to argue that despite the rhetoric framing the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021 as 'progressive', legislators largely continue to rely on and perpetuate the paternalistic, patriarchal and cis-heteronormative attitudes that informed the provisions of the original MTP Act, 1971 and provide only conditional access to abortion. We also examine the shifting nature of the legislative discourse on abortion with the emergence of legal responses to address the issue of sex determination and the resultant conflation of abortion and sex determination witnessed in the debates in 2002 and 2020-21. We further situate the discourse and legislative framework on abortion within the context of other laws and policies, such as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and the wider 'population control' policies that were highly prevalent in post-colonial India's agenda during the 1950s to 1980s. Lastly, though it is still restricted to a minority segment in both Houses of Parliament, we trace the growing tide of progressive voices calling for abortion legislation that centers the autonomy of pregnant persons and dismantles a cis- heteronormative understanding of sexual and reproductive health and rights to respond to the needs and experiences of transgender and gender-diverse persons.