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Abortion is a surgical procedure that ends a pregnancy; as a result, no child is born due to the procedure. Pregnancy can be terminated surgically or medically, based on how many months have passed from conception. A miscarriage, where the pregnancy ends naturally without medical assistance, differs from abortion.
There are several reasons a woman can choose to get an abortion. The decision to undergo an abortion is frequently a firm one and one that is made for very personal reasons. For instance, the woman’s situation could make raising a child challenging for her, and the pregnancy might have been unwanted. Some of these reasons include lack of money, being in an abusive relationship, harsh circumstances, incorrect timing, or the mother may not want to have children. Some pregnant women may discover that their kid has a condition or that continuing the pregnancy to term might be harmful to their health. If a woman wants to terminate her pregnancy for any reason, she has complete control over the decision.
Key Takeaways
- According to the ruling made by Justice, “An unmarried woman has the same freedom to choose if she wants to have children as just a married woman, in accordance with Article 21’s rights of adult individuality, dignity, and solitude.
- If the Rules and Act are followed, the bench decided, “The stereotype and commonly held belief that only married women participate in sexual activity, and as a result, the benefits in the law must only apply to them, would be upheld if the benefits of the legislation were understood to be restricted to married ladies.
Supreme Court decision favours all women
According to a Supreme Court ruling, all women now have the right to safe, legal abortions until twenty-four weeks into their conception, independent of their marital status. A group of justices, including Pardiwala, and Chandrachud, determined on Thursday that the distinction made in abortion laws between married and unmarried women is “unrealistic and fundamentally unsustainable.” The bench decided that unmarried women who were between 20 and 24 weeks pregnant could not be barred from getting an abortion that was both safe and lawful. The freedoms of adult individuals, dignity, and as per Justice Chandrachud’s opinion, dignity under Article 21 “provide an unmarried woman the opportunity to decide to choose whether or not bear a child, on an equitable level as a married woman.” The verdict, which made reference to the relevant MTP Act clause, stated that “Given that it would deny single women of some privileges, it does seem to us that adopting a strict but limited construction to Rule 3B might bring it dangerously near to being declared unconstitutional. The verdict, which made reference to the applicable MTP Act clause, states that “Given it would deny single women of some rights, it does appear to us that applying a tight and limited construction to Rule 3B might bring it dangerously near to being deemed unconstitutional.
The groups of women whose pregnancies may be terminated up to 24 weeks are listed in Rule 3B. According to the requirements of the MTP Act, only persons with mental illnesses, children, pregnant women whose dating life altered during their pregnancies, pregnant women with prenatal abnormalities, and rape survivors are entitled to terminate their pregnancies. Also entitled to safe and legal abortions are single, unmarried women:
The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision on reproductive rights on Thursday, allowing single, unmarried women the choice of a safe, legal abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Every woman has the “freedom to make health-care choices without excessive State involvement,” according to the court. No matter their marital status, all women in the country are allowed to have an abortion up to twenty-four weeks into a pregnancy. When determining whether to approve a request from a young single who was in a sexual relationship that was consenting but was denied the right to an abortion because she was past the twenty-week mark, Judges Bopanna and Pardiwala emphasised that the Medical Revocation of Pregnancy Act’s provisions could be interpreted to deny that right to single women who are past that milestone.
The court ruled that the benefits of the law must not only be available to married women because otherwise, the Regulations and Act would support the stereotype and widely held notion that married women participate in sexual activity. It is unconstitutional to continue this arbitrary separation between married and single women. The law stated that both married and single women might use it. If a woman’s health status is in jeopardy, she has the right to end the pregnancy under the Constitution’s Act. It should be noted that only the woman has authority over her healthcare and can decide whether to have an abortion or not. One argument holds that denying women control over their bodies and lives would insult their dignity.
The term "rape" must encompass marital rape
The term “rape” as used in the MTP Act and any laws and regulations made thereunder shall include marital rape. The statement claimed that any alternative interpretation would require a woman to become pregnant and raise a child with a partner who treats her violently and emotionally. The bench added that “Wedded women were primarily handled by the Act of 1971,” which would be changed starting in 2021. It is interesting that the 2021 Declaration of Objects and Objectives does not distinguish between married and unmarried ladies.
The judgment stated that there could not be a distinction between abortion among married and unmarried women “Only the woman, free from outside influence or interference, can decide on her terms whether to have an abortion or not given her complicated life circumstances. Every pregnant woman must have the inherent right to decide whether to have an abortion or not, without the approval or consent of a third party, to practice reproductive autonomy “.
