NEW DEHLI 29 Sep (Online): India\u2019s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a woman\u2019s lack of marital status could not deny her the choice to abort a pregnancy at any time up to 24 weeks, a decision hailed by women\u2019s rights activists.<\/p>\n
The right to abortion has proved contentious globally after the United States Supreme Court overturned in June its landmark decision in Roe v Wade that had legalised the procedure in the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven an unmarried woman can undergo abortion up to 24 weeks on par with married women,\u201d said Justice DY Chandrachud of India\u2019s Supreme Court, holding that lack of marital status could not deprive a woman of the right.<\/p>\n
A law dating from 1971, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, had limited the procedure to married women, divorcees, widows, minors, \u201cdisabled and mentally ill women\u201d and survivors of sexual assault or rape.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s decision came in response to a petition by a woman who said her pregnancy resulted from a consensual relationship but she had sought abortion when it failed.<\/p>\n
The ruling is a milestone for the rights of Indian women, activists said.
\n\u201cA huge step forward,\u201d lawmaker Mahua Moitra said on Twitter.<\/p>\n
The court added that sexual assault by husbands can be classified as marital rape under the MTP law. Indian law does not consider marital rape an offence, though efforts are being made to change this.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an era that includes Dobbs v Jackson, and makes distinctions between the marital status of women who are raped, this excellent judgment on abortion under the MTP Act hits it out of the park,\u201d Karuna Nundy, an advocate specialising in gender law and other areas, said on Twitter.<\/p>\n
She was referring to the case that led to the US judgment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DEHLI 29 Sep (Online): India\u2019s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a woman\u2019s lack of marital status could not deny her the choice to abort a pregnancy at any time up to 24 weeks, a decision hailed by women\u2019s rights activists. The right to […]<\/p>\n
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