“All women are entitled to safe and legal abortion”: SC

The Supreme Court ruled today that all women have the right to a safe and lawful abortion procedure and that it is illegal to differentiate between married and unmarried women in this regard.

The court also recognised marital rape in the landmark decision by the bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, JB Pardiwala, and AS Bopanna, however only as it relates to abortion.

The court decided that marital rape must be included in the definition of rape under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. This finding might set the stage for forthcoming decisions regarding marital rape, a contentious issue in the nation.

The court ruled that even unmarried women would be allowed to end an undesired pregnancy at 24 weeks and stated that a woman’s marital status cannot be used as a justification to deny her the right to an abortion. According to the court, it is against their fundamental rights to deny single or unmarried women the ability to terminate an unplanned pregnancy.

It said a distinction between married and unmarried women under the abortion laws is “artificial and constitutionally unsustainable” and perpetuates the stereotype that only married women are sexually active.

A 25-year-old single woman’s petition led to the historic decision. The woman had filed an appeal against a Delhi High Court decision that stated that because she was single and the pregnancy was the result of a consenting relationship, she was not entitled to an abortion under the Act. The pregnant woman had stated that she was 23 weeks along.

She had disclosed before the Supreme Court that her partner had turned down their engagement. She stressed that she lacks the resources to raise a child while stating that she is the oldest of five siblings and that her parents are farmers.

On July 21, the court granted the lady’s request to terminate the foetus, subject to the medical board’s finding that it won’t harm the woman. The bench had then declared that the word “partner” has been substituted for “husband” in the abortion law’s 2021 amendments. This, the court ruled, demonstrates that Parliament did not intend to limit an abortion circumstance to just a married tie.

The centre received a notification from the court asking it to respond to the marital status issue in relation to the right to abortion. On August 23, it put off making a decision regarding how to interpret the abortion statute.