SC axes 51-year-old curb|equal abortion rights

 SC axes 51-year-old curb, single women get equal abortion rights

equal abortion rights

Bench says prohibiting single women with pregnancies up to 24 weeksfrom accessing abortion while allowing married women with the same term to get the care amounted to discrimination; artificial distinction is not constitutionally sustainable

                                                    

In a historic judgment,

 the Supreme Court on Thursday declared that single women with preg­nancies between 20 and 24 weeks are entitled to access the same safe and legal abortion care as married women.

A three­judge Bench, led by Justice D.Y. Chandra­chud, pried open the res­trictive grip of a 51­year­old abortion law which barred unmarried women from ter­minating pregnancies that are up to 24 weeks old.

The judgment came in an appeal by a person who wanted to terminate her pregnancy before her term completed 24 weeks. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 prohibits unmarried wo­men who are between 20 and 24 weeks’ pregnant to abort with theequal abortion rights  help of regis­tered doctors.

“The rights of reproduc­tive autonomy, dignity and privacy give an unmarried woman the right of choice as to whether or not to bear a child on a similar footingas that of a married wo­man,” Justice Chandrachud held in an order issued on a petition filed by a person who chose to remain anony­mous.

The court declared

 that prohibiting single women with pregnancies up to 24 weeks from accessing abor­tion while allowing married

women with the same term of pregnancy to avail the care amounted to discrimi­nation.equal abortion rights  The court said a sin­gle woman may have suf­fered the same “change in material circumstances” as a married pregnant woman. The single woman may have been abandoned or without a job or been a victim of violence during her pregnancy. Her life could be in danger due to foetal abnormalities. She may have been a victim of sexual exploitation leading to the pregnancy. There would be cases in which she could have got pregnant due to contraceptive failure, leaving her in a state of mental anguish.equal abortion rights

    

proper data 

“The law should not decide the beneficiaries of a statute based on narrow patriarchal principles about what constitutes permissible sex. This would create invidious classifications,” Justice Chandrachud said in the judgment.equal abortion rights  The court said eight women die every day in India due to unsafe abortions. 67% of the abortions carried out bet­ween 2007 and 2011 were classified unsafe. Illegalabortion is a “continuing crisis”, especially among unmarried women. The MTP (Amendment) Act in 2021 included the term ‘partner’ to show that the law was not just concerned about women within marriage. The court said the artificial distinction between married and unmarried equal abortion rights  women was not constitutionally sustainable. The state would be stripping single women of their autonomy over their bodies and lives by forcing them to carry un­wantedpregnancy to full term. Reproductive au­tonomy included the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. A woman does not need the permission of a third party to abort.equal abortion rights

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