Highlights
- A massive ruling by the Supreme Court of India.
- Unmarried women are also entitled to legal and safe abortion.
A 25-year-old woman approached the Delhi High court seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy. The fetus was of 23 weeks and 5 days and the reason to abort the child in her plea was that her partner refused to marry her at the later stage. But since the pregnancy was out of a consensual relationship, the High Court refused to provide any relief to her. The bench comprising Chief Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium observed that pregnancy arising out of a consensual relationship was not covered in any clause of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 2003.
Massive ruling by the Supreme Court of India
After this, she approached the Supreme Court in July, where an interim order was passed allowing her to abort the fetus after getting medical approval. Since this case required much in-depth interpretation, the bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, stated that unmarried women are also entitled to legal and safe abortion.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 2003, defines different categories of women who are allowed to terminate their pregnancy in the duration of 20-24 weeks, which includes, survivors of sexual assault, minors, women with physical disabilities, women whose marital status has undergone change (divorce or widowhood), mentally ill women, fetal malformation, women with pregnancy in disaster, emergency situations as declared by the government.
The Supreme Court said that denying unmarried women the right of abortion is against the spirit of Article 14, which grants right to equality. Instead of striking down the provision, the court adopted the purposive interpretation in which the law is interpreted to fulfil the purpose for which the law was enacted. The court also added that the 2021 amendment in MTP Act, does not differentiate between unmarried and married women.
Read More: Supreme Court on Abortion Rights
