CHANGING DIMENSIONS IN ABORTION LAW - A RAY OF HOPE

By Adv. SUDHEESH S KUMAR

Until the 1960's abortion was illegal in India and unless the procedure was done with good faith the mother would be punished under section 312 of the Indian Penal Code.

It was in the middle of the 1960's government set up a committee and thereby in 1971, enacted the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. The Act provides for the termination of certain pregnancies through medical practitioners. Thus legalized abortion.

Initially, the law permit abortion up to 20 weeks, and in 2021 it increases the period from 20 weeks to 24 weeks for special categories of women like rape survivors, minors, mental illness, and physically disabled.

In a historical judgment, the apex court declared that prohibiting single women with pregnancies up to 24 weeks from accessing abortion while allowing married women with the same term of pregnancy amounts to discrimination.

The constitution guarantees a dignified life, the right to privacy, and the right to reproductive choice / bodily autonomy to the citizens of the country. In India, it is the patriarchal mindsets and social stigma that make unmarried single women face hurdles in exercising their right to abortion and other constitutional rights as aforesaid. 

Today unsafe abortions are the major cause of the increase in maternal mortality. unsafe abortions and unwanted pregnancies affect women's physical, mental, and emotional health. Thereby it is essential that the choice of being pregnant has to be given to the women. 

similarly, in the institution of marriage husband and wife are equal. we cannot deny the sexual choices and choice of being a father of the husband. Thereby if he wants to be a father and the wife decides not to be pregnant. then it is necessarily taken as a ground for divorce for upholding individual choices and dignity of life. 

Also, while allowing the right of unmarried women for abortion , the court made a significant observation that , abortion of  rape survivors include the marital rape survivours which indicated the importance of debating whether the martital rape is a crime or not ?

I am a Legal professional - practicing as a counsel before the High Court of Kerala and the Trial Courts Mainly in Kottayam Zone. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Bachelor of Commerce from Mahatma Gandhi University (2014-17) and a bachelor’s degree in law from University of Calicut (2018-21). From November 2021 onwards till July 2022 , I was a Junior trainee at the Firm Tharakan and George Associates. Now I am an Associate Litigator at Tharakan and George Associates. Civil Commercial litigation, Consumer Litigation , Drafting of Legal Documents , Preparation of Title deeds , Registration of Firms and Society are my primary areas of practice. Opinions expressed by me here are in my personal capacity, and may not be conclusive. My LinkedIn profile is available at https://www.linkedin.com/in/adv-sudheesh-s-kumar-632977234/

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