The Supreme Court of India has ruled that all women are entitled to safe and legal abortions, irrespective of their marital status.
The SC said that even a single and unmarried woman has the right to abort under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and the rules till 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Will stereotype that only married women have sex
“If Rule 3B(c) is understood as only for married women, it would perpetuate the stereotype that only married women indulge in sexual activities. This is not constitutionally sustainable. The artificial distinction between married and unmarried women cannot be sustained. Women must have the autonomy to have free exercise of these rights”, the SC bench of DY Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala said.
“The rights of reproductive autonomy give an unmarried woman similar rights as a married woman”, the Court added.
The Case
The court was hearing the plea by a 25-year-old woman challenging the Delhi High Court order that denied her permission to undergo medical termination of pregnancy which had arisen out of a consensual sexual relationship, saying that it virtually amounts to killing the fetus.
The woman had argued that her pregnancy arose out of a consensual relationship, however, she could not give birth to the child as she was an unmarried woman and her partner had refused to marry her.
The Delhi HC denied her plea and observed that unmarried women, whose pregnancy arose out of a consensual relationship, were not covered by any of the Clauses under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003.
While hearing her plea, the SC had earlier allowed the woman to terminate her 24-week pregnancy on July 21.
MTP needs to be interpreted with change of times
During the hearing, the SC had said that there has to be a forward-looking interpretation of the (MTP Act and Rules) law in view of the advancement made in the medical field.
The court said that Rule 3B(c) of the MTP Act can be interpreted in such a manner that the change of marital status should be a broad category which would include a married woman who has been abandoned and also an unmarried, who suffered abandonment.
Coincidently the order was delivered on international safe abortion day.
Abortion rights, a global issue
The significant ruling by the SC comes at a time when the abortion rights of women continue to be a highly divisive topic.
In June the conservative-majority US Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion, which was in place for nearly 70 years.
The court overturned the landmark 1973 “Roe v. Wade” decision enshrining a woman’s right to an abortion, saying individual states can restrict or ban the procedure themselves.
“The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion,” the court said in a 6-3 ruling on one of America’s most bitterly divisive issues.
