The Right To Abortion In India: What Needs to be Changed?

On September 29, the Supreme Court of India passed a judgement in the case of a 25 year old unmarried woman, whose plea to abort a pregnancy at 24 weeks was turned down by the Delhi high court. The apex Court of India held that all women, irrespective of their marital status, had the right to terminate a pregnancy up to 24 weeks. The court held that this right is intrinsically connected to their bodily autonomy and an artificial distinction, such as marital status, cannot decide if a woman should have the right to choose the course of her life, herself. While many women have hailed the move, what this monumental change would mean for the reproductive rights of a woman, remains yet to be seen. During the British rule in the 1860s, women who got abortions were penalised either through fine or punishment, or both. It was only in 1971 that a separate law to uphold women’s rights was passed in the form of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP). which was first amended in 2003 and in 2021, thereafter. However, as the scope of the act has seemingly broadened, it is yet to extend the same right to safe and legal abortions, to the LGBTQIA+ community, transgender people, and those who were categorised as intersex or female at birth. It is imperative to understand that many people who do not identify as women can experience pregnancy and thus should have the protection of the law for a safe and equitable access to healthcare and abortion facilities. Thus, while abortion laws in India have taken a progressive turn, there is much that needs to be done to extend these rights to all those who need it.

SOURCE: Observer Research Foundation