Indian Supreme Court upholds abortion for unmarried women and in case of marital rape

Daniel Stewart - News 360


India's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, which was amended in 2021 to allow termination of pregnancy on several grounds up to 24 weeks, for unmarried women and those who have suffered spousal rape.



The court, which has made a landmark decision, has thus indicated that it considers unconstitutional the distinction between a single woman and a house when it comes to requesting to undergo this practice. "The benefits of this law should be extended to both," said Justices DY Chandrachud, AS Bopanna and JP Bardiwala, according to the judgment, which has been accessed by the NDTV channel.

Thus, the definition of rape in the law should include marital rape, which paves the way for bringing such cases to justice. "Married women can also be among the survivors of sexual abuse and rape. The definition of rape implies having sexual intercourse without the consent of the other person or against their will regardless of whether this occurs within or outside marriage," they clarified.

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In this sense, they have emphasized that the marital status of the woman cannot "encourage her to be deprived of the right to abortion, so that even unmarried women have the right to access it in those first 24 weeks". The sentence indicates that the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy "for the body and mind of the woman cannot be underestimated".

"The decision to carry the pregnancy to term is part of the woman's autonomy," they stressed before stating that if these women are forced to give birth, the State "would be stripping them of their determination and their ability to decide about their own future."

The decision followed an appeal filed by a 25-year-old unmarried woman after a lower court ruled that she was ineligible for the abortion law because she was not married and had consensual relations.

However, the woman has claimed that she was 23 weeks pregnant and that her partner in question had refused to marry her. In addition, she said that she was the eldest of five siblings from a poor family, so she lacked the resources to raise her child.

Last July, the court allowed the woman to have an abortion after receiving the approval of several doctors. Now, the regulations state that women who have been raped, have a disability, are minors or are at risk of physical or psychological harm if they go through with the pregnancy can have an abortion.