The Supreme Court on Thursday held that provisions in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act) excluding unmarried women from the right to terminate pregnancy beyond 20 weeks violates Article 14 of the Constitution. In a first, the SC also legally recognised marital rape in the country. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, AS Bopanna, and JB Pardiwala held that the distinction between married and unmarried woman cannot be sustained.
The MTP Act has long been a matter of discussion, mainly due to the distinction between married and unmarried women, in terms of right to terminate pregnancy. Rule 3B(c) of the act states norms of medical termination of pregnancy for married women. The Supreme Court on Thursday held that this specification that unmarried does not involve in sex. “Thus the artificial distinction between married and unmarried woman cannot be sustained,” the Court said.
What is the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act?
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act 1971 was passed in order to legalise abortion and abortions safer in India. However, back then, it only applied to married women, and had a gestational age limit of 20 weeks. The gestational period is the foetal development period from the time of conception until birth. This act was amended in 2021, paving way for unmarried women to be included. However, the rules of the MTP Act 2021 did not allow unmarried women to terminate their pregnancies beyond 20 weeks.
As per the MTP Rules, only survivors of rape, minors, women whose marital status changed during pregnancy, mentally-ill women, or women with foetal malformation are allowed to terminate pregnancy up to 24 weeks.
Single Women Can Terminate Pregnancy Up To 24 Weeks
The Supreme Court on Thursday held that even unmarried women who become pregnant from consensual sexual relationships are entitled to terminate pregnancy up to 24 weeks. Referring to the current provisions of the MTP act, the Supreme Court said it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution to discriminate between married and unmarried women in terms of right to abortion.
Law cannot create such artificial classification based on such narrow grounds of marital status, the Court underscored. The bench held that reproductive autonomy is closely linked to bodily autonomy and consequences of unwanted pregnancy on a woman cannot be undermined.
Significance of Supreme Court’s July order
On July 21, the Supreme Court overturned a Delhi High Court order and expanded the scope of the MTP Act to include unmarried women and allowed a 25-year-old to abort her 24-week pregnancy arising out of a consensual relationship. However, that was an interim order.
“A woman’s right to reproductive choice is an inseparable part of her personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution and she has a sacrosanct right to bodily integrity,” it had said.
Supreme Court’s big statement on marital rape
In a first, the Supreme Court legally recognised and acknowledged marital rape, despite Delhi High Court’s split verdict on the matter. The SC said on Thursday sexual abuse by husband can take the form of rape. “Rape means sexual intercourse without consent and intimate partner violence is a reality. In this case also, woman may get forcefully pregnant… Any pregnancy alleged to be caused by force is rape,” the SC bench noted.
In the Delhi High Court order given in May, one of the judges favoured striking down the exception in the law that grants protection to husbands from being prosecuted for non-consensual sexual intercourse with their wives, while the other refused to hold it unconstitutional.
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