It’s Women Choice Regardless Of Marital Status
The Supreme Court Of India stated on Thursday that “a woman can get pregnant by choice regardless of her marital status,” highlighting the fact that women have the right to decisional autonomy, which allows them to direct the path of their life.
According to the supreme court, a woman is frequently entangled in complicated ideas of family, society, religion, and caste, and these outside social influences have an impact on how she exercises autonomy and control over her body, particularly when it comes to issues involving reproductive choices.
As per the Supreme Court, all women have the right to end unwanted pregnancies. Rape is also considered marital rape for the purposes of the MTP Act.
In a remarkable decision, the SC decided to extend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act’s coverage to unmarried women seeking abortions between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy, arguing that doing otherwise would make the law discriminatory and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.
Unwanted pregnancies may have cascading effects on the rest of women’s lives, by interfering with their schooling or careers or negatively impacting their mental health, as per the bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, AS Bopanna, and JB Pardiwala.
A woman can become pregnant by choice irrespective of her marital status.
In case the pregnancy is wanted, it is equally shared by both the partners, the bench said.
India’s top court has ruled that a woman has the right to an abortion if her mental or physical health is at stake.
The bench said Article 21 of the Constitution recognizes and protects the right of a woman to undergo termination of pregnancy when her life is in danger.
The top court’s decision was based on an appeal filed by a lady from the North East contesting the Delhi High Court’s decision to deny her request to terminate her pregnancy after her spouse refused to be married and left her.
The scope of reproductive rights is not limited to a woman’s choice to have or not have children, Justice Chandrachud said in the 75-page ruling.
It also encompasses the collection of rights and liberties that allow a woman to make her own decisions on all aspects of her sexual and reproductive health.
According to the ruling, “reproductive rights include the right to access education and information about contraception and sexual health, the right to choose whether to use contraceptives and what kind to use, the right to decide whether to have children and when to have them, the right to choose the number of children, the right to access safe and legal abortions, and the right to reproductive healthcare.”
The court stated that although women must be free from pressure or violence to make judgments on these rights, they frequently become entangled in complicated ideas of family, society, religion, and caste.
According to the judgment, reproductive autonomy necessitates that every pregnant woman has the inalienable right to decide whether or not to have an abortion without receiving permission from a third party. “Reproductive autonomy is a human right,”
The bench stated, “Until it is born, the fetus depends on the pregnant woman’s body for nutrition and nourishment.
It was stated that the biological process of pregnancy changes a woman’s body to enable this, and among a variety of side effects, she may endure swelling, bodily aches, contractions, morning sickness, and limited mobility.
The decision to carry the pregnancy to term or terminate it is firmly rooted in the pregnant woman’s right to bodily autonomy and decisional autonomy, the court emphasized.
