Central Landmark Supreme Court Ruling Extends Abortion Rights to Unmarried Women

The Supreme Court made a significant ruling on reproductive rights on Thursday, extending the right to safe and legal abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy to unmarried and single women. The Court stated that it is the “right of every woman to make reproductive choices without undue interference from the State.”

Now, all women in the country, regardless of marital status, can undergo an abortion up to 24 weeks into pregnancy. The ruling came in response to a plea by an unmarried pregnant woman who had been denied the right to abortion because she was past the 20-week limit.

The bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, A S Bopanna and J B Pardiwala emphasized that the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act cannot be interpreted to deny that right to single women beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The Court also declared that the meaning of rape must include marital rape for the purpose of the MTP Act. It stated that any other interpretation would compel a woman to give birth to and raise a child with a partner who inflicts mental and physical harm upon her.

Furthermore, the bench highlighted that the Act of 1971 was largely concerned with ‘married women’ but the 2021 Statement of Objects and Reasons does not make a distinction between married and unmarried women. It emphasized that the whole tenor of the MTP Act is to provide access to safe and legal medical abortions to women.

The Court stressed that the decision to give birth to and raise a child is necessarily informed by one’s material circumstances, and each woman’s circumstances are unique. It stated that the impact of the continuance of an unwanted pregnancy on a woman’s physical or mental health should take into consideration various social, economic, and cultural factors operating in her actual or reasonably foreseeable environment.

In conclusion, the Court emphasized that the right to decisional autonomy means that women may choose the course of their lives, and the decision to carry the pregnancy to its full term or terminate it is firmly rooted in the right to bodily autonomy and decisional autonomy of the pregnant woman.