Supreme Court Judgment on Abortion Rights: The Supreme Court has said regarding abortion that there cannot be any discrimination between unmarried and married women. The Supreme Court on Thursday (September 29) said that all women have the right to a safe abortion. Whether they are single or married.
In fact, till now only married women had the right to an abortion more than 20 weeks and less than 24 weeks. But now after this decision of the Supreme Court, unmarried women will also have the right to have an abortion till this time limit. The court said the 2021 amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act does not discriminate between married and unmarried women. This decision was given by the bench of Justice DY Chandrachud.
The court said allowing only married women would be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution for an unmarried woman.
Forced sex within the scope of rape:
During the hearing, the court also said that having sex forcibly by the husband will also come under the category of rape. The Court held that the case of wives who conceive after forcible sexual intercourse by their husbands also comes under the ambit of sexual assault or rape under Rule 3B(a) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules.
The Supreme Court held that under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act for abortion, sexual intercourse by a husband without my consent should be included in the meaning of marital rape.
Eligible to terminate the pregnancy up to 24 weeks:
- victim of rape or sexual incest
- minor
- Widow and divorced woman amid ongoing pregnancy
- physically handicapped women
- mentally ill women
- in a condition likely to cause serious physical or mental disability after the birth of the child
- women who conceive in case of accident or emergency
What’s the matter:
Significantly, a 25-year-old unmarried woman had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking an abortion at 23 weeks and 5 days. In the petition, the woman said that she had a pregnancy with a consent. But in the absence of marriage, she cannot give birth to a child. The woman said that her male partner had refused to marry her.
In this case, a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramanian Prasad in the Delhi High Court had refused to grant interim relief to the woman. After which he filed a petition against this decision in the Supreme Court.
