MTP Act: Unmarried women should be allowed to seek abortion after 20 weeks, says Supreme Court

In a landmark and progressive stance, the Supreme Court of India urged that unmarried women should be included in the terms specified by the abortion laws in the country, and should be allowed to seek termination of pregnancy after 20 weeks.

The Supreme Court bench insisted on a “forward thinking” approach in the judgment and said that any discrimination between married and unmarried women in respect of medical termination of pregnancy law in India that does not allow a single woman to go for abortion after 20 weeks, violates her personal autonomy, as per ANI reports.

The apex court bench, which consisted of Justices DY Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala, said it will interpret the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act and the related rules to see if unmarried women could be allowed to abort up to 24-week pregnancy on medical advice.

While pushing for the increase of abortion terms for unmarried women, the SC bench said, “There has to be a forward-looking interpretation of the (MTP Act and Rules) law in view of the advancement made in the medical field.”

According to the terms currently stated in the MTP Act 2021, the upper limit for the termination of pregnancy is 24 weeks for married women, special categories -- including survivors of rape and other vulnerable women such as the differently-abled and minors; the corresponding window for unmarried women in consensual relationships is 20 weeks.

The apex court pointed out that the word ‘husband’ has been replaced by the word ‘partner’ by parliamentary intent, so then why is it that unmarried women can’t seek abortion at 24 weeks when the practice has been legitimized by the medical community for married women.

This comes just a few days after the Supreme Court observed that a woman can`t be denied abortion benefits merely on the ground that she is unmarried and allowed a woman to terminate her 24-week-old pregnancy subject to AIIMS Delhi concluding that the fetus can be aborted without risk to her life.

(With ANI inputs)

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