The Supreme Court on Thursday, September 29, held that all women, irrespective of their marital status, are entitled to safe and legal abortion till 24 weeks of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, JB Pardiwala and AS Bopanna delivered the verdict on the interpretation of the MTP Act, and whether unmarried or single women can be allowed like their married counterparts the benefit of abortion up to 24 weeks.
The top court said the distinction between married and unmarried women under the abortion laws is “artificial and constitutionally unsustainable” and perpetuates the stereotype that only married woman are sexually active.
According to Live Law, the case arose when an unmarried 25-year-old woman approached the Delhi High Court wanting to terminate her pregnancy. She was 23 weeks and 5 days pregnant and stated that she was pregnant from a consensual relationship. However, she was not ready to give birth because she was unmarried and her partner refused to marry her. A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad refused to provide her interim relief. The High Court also observed that no clause under the MTP Act covers pregnancies of unmarried women arising from consensual relationships.
The woman approached the Supreme Court and an ad-interim order was passed, which allowed her to terminate her pregnancy after a medical board constituted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi confirmed that the foetus could be aborted without causing risk to the woman’s life.
The Supreme Court observed that the Delhi High Court had taken an “unduly restrictive view” on the matter. A bench comprising Justices KY Chandrachud, AS Boppana and Surya Kant took into account the amendment made to the MTP Act in 2021 where the word ‘husband’ was changed to ‘partner’ in Explanation 1 to Section 3(2) of the Act.
The bench, on August 23, had reserved its verdict on interpretation of the MTP Act provisions which makes a distinction between married and unmarried women on the issue of abortion till 24 weeks of pregnancy.