Women have right to safe abortion: Supreme Court : GS TIMES IAS-PCS

The Supreme Court allowed an unmarried woman to abort a 24-week pregnancy, subject to the report by a medical board at AIIMS.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had refused to let the woman undergo abortion on the grounds that the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules 2021, do not extend the 24-week limit to unmarried women.

A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was hearing the appeal of from the woman who wanted to abort her 24-week pregnancy after her relationship failed and her partner left her.

The court noted that an amendment to the Act in 2021 had substituted the term ‘husband’ with ‘partner’, a clear signal that the law covered unmarried women within its ambit.

A woman’s right to reproductive choice is an inseparable part of her personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. She has a sacrosanct right to bodily integrity, the court quoted from precedents.

The court said forcing a woman to continue with her pregnancy would not only be a violation of her bodily integrity but also aggravate her mental trauma.

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (amended) in 2021

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 was amended in 2021. While it increased the permissible time limit for abortion from 20 weeks to 24 weeks, it did so for only certain categories of women.

The list is limited — minors, rape victims, women with change in marital status during pregnancy (widowhood and divorce), foetal anomalies, women with physical disabilities and women with mental illness including mental retardation — and excludes all other women.

Despite the fact that existing laws do not permit unconditional abortion in the country, in the landmark 2017 Right to Privacy judgement in the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India and others, the Supreme Court had held that the decision by a pregnant person on whether to continue a pregnancy or not is part of such a person’s right to privacy as well and, therefore, the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Women have right to safe abortion: Supreme Court