Satya Prakash
New Delhi, July 21
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a 25-year-old unmarried woman to consensually abort her unwanted pregnancy at 24 weeks, subject to a report by a medical board of AIIMS, Delhi that there was no threat to her life.
A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud set aside an order of the Delhi High Court saying, “The petitioner should not be denied the benefit (of the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act) merely on the ground that she is an unmarried woman. ” His petition was rejected on 15 July.
Under the Act, abortion is not allowed after 20 weeks in a pregnancy resulting from a consensual relationship and the High Court had held that it would amount to virtually killing the fetus.
However, giving a liberal interpretation of the 2021 amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, the bench said the High Court took an “unreasonably restrictive” view of the provisions of the Act.
It said, “The intention of Parliament is not to limit the beneficial provision of the Act to mere matrimonial relations. In fact, any woman or her partner shall point out that in accordance with Article 21, Parliament shall have regard to the broad bodily autonomy of the woman.” given a broader meaning.
Pointing out that the word “partner” has been used instead of “husband” in the Explanation to section 3 in the amended Act, it said it reflects the legislative intent to cover “unmarried woman” under it.
“We are of the view that allowing the petitioner to have an unwanted pregnancy would be against the Parliamentary intent and benefits under the Act cannot be denied merely on the ground that she is unmarried. The distinction between a married and an unmarried woman has nothing to do with the goal that is sought to be achieved,” the bench said.
The petitioner – who hails from Manipur and completed 24 weeks of pregnancy on 18 July – submitted that her partner, with whom she was in a consensual relationship, had refused to marry her and outside the marriage Giving birth would cause her psychological pain as well as social stigma and she was not mentally prepared to be a mother.
The High Court had said that in exercise of its power under Article 226 of the Constitution, the court cannot go beyond the law.