India – On abortion, Supreme Court and government have failed women

Coerced pregnancies and forceful state oversight of termination benefit neither the pregnant person nor the child

Written by Rohin Bhatt
February 5, 2024

For a long time, Indians have prided themselves on a “liberal abortion regime”. In 2022, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani wrote in The Indian Express (‘West steps back, India shows way’, June 27), “It is a liberal achievement over countries where abortions are disallowed since conception, even in the most traumatising of circumstances of sexual abuse or incest… Not only is the government making a concerted effort for reproductive choices to be easier on the pockets of women, it is also promoting safe motherhood through institutional deliveries under Janani Suraksha Yojana and quality, respectful care in labour rooms during deliveries under schemes like LaQshya.”

But do the government and courts walk the talk when issues of abortion come up? A recent look at the decisions of the Supreme Court and high courts would suggest — the answer is no.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/abortion-supreme-court-government-have-failed-women-9145065/

05.02.2024

Commentary

All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Delhi High Court

India Supreme Court

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971

India – ‘24-Week Limit For Abortion Is Obsolete’

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act does not permit abortions beyond 24 weeks, but this limit is obsolete, as abortions can now safely be performed right up to full term, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves says

By Menaka Rao
2 Feb, 2024

New Delhi: On January 23, the Delhi High Court recalled its order granting permission for abortion to a 26-year-old woman. Her husband had died two months ago. She was about 30 weeks pregnant when she approached the court. The earlier order was based on the fact that she had suicide ideation due to her bereavement, but the court turned back on its previous order after doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) raised objections to the late-term abortion saying that the foetus was viable and it could be born alive after the procedure.

This case is similar to the one decided in October 2023 by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which involved a married woman with postpartum psychosis after a recent delivery. There too, AIIMS doctors had sent clarifications that it was a late-term pregnancy as defined by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 2021 (MTP Act). The Supreme Court not only rejected the abortion plea at the time, but also told the woman to deliver the baby at AIIMS and give it up for adoption if the couple wishes to do so.

Continued: https://www.indiaspend.com/indiaspend-interviews/24-week-limit-for-abortion-is-obsolete-892891

Abortion law in India is changing. Advocate Amit Mishra is at the centre of it all

Debate on woman’s right to terminate pregnancy as against right of unborn child has been gaining steam in India. Dr Mishra says he gets 1-2 cases every month involving these rights.

APOORVA MANDHANI
03 February, 2024

New Delhi: ‘The baby is currently viable — that is he will show signs of life and have a strong possibility of survival — so we would need a directive from the Supreme Court on whether a foeticide can be done before the abortion.’ This is what an AIIMS doctor wrote in an email to the Supreme Court on 10 October last year. The email changed the course of the debate on abortion in India.

The email was written after a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, on 9 October, allowed a 27-year-old woman, ‘X’, to terminate her 26-week pregnancy.

Continued: https://theprint.in/judiciary/abortion-law-in-india-is-changing-advocate-amit-mishra-is-at-the-centre-of-it-all/1950906/

03.02.2024

News

AIIMS

All India Institute of Medical Science

Amit Mishra

Delhi High Court

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

India – ‘Fetus is normal’ — AIIMS asks HC to reconsider order allowing abortion for 31 weeks pregnant woman

Delhi HC order allowed abortion citing psychiatric report that woman was suffering from extreme trauma. Hospital's application says 'feticide' in this case 'neither justified nor ethical'.

BHADRA SINHA
16 January, 2024

New Delhi: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has expressed reservations about a Delhi High Court order permitting abortion to a 31-week pregnant woman.

In an application filed Monday before the high court, the hospital said the “fetus is grossly normal” and, therefore, “feticide” in the case “is neither justified nor ethical”.

Continued: https://theprint.in/judiciary/fetus-is-normal-aiims-asks-hc-to-reconsider-order-allowing-abortion-for-31-weeks-pregnant-woman/1925498/

A disturbing judicial trend to inhibit access to abortion services in India

Two decisions, one of the Kerala High Court and the other of the Supreme Court of India represent a disturbing new trend of courts leaning away from respect for bodily autonomy and the choice of a pregnant person in access to abortion services.

MUSKAN TIBREWALA
JANUARY 7, 2024

IN a short span of four days, from December 18 to December 22, the fate of a 12-year-old girl child who is pregnant due to rape by her minor brother was decided by the Kerala High Court.

The girl child sought termination of the pregnancy on the ground that giving birth would lead to “cataclysmic consequences to her physiological and psychological condition”.

Continued: https://theleaflet.in/a-disturbing-judicial-trend-to-inhibit-access-to-abortion-services-in-india/

07.01.2024

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act

Kerala High Court

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971

India – Abortion for Survivors of Sexual Assault: What Are the Delhi HC Guidelines?

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act is now to be read with the guidelines issued by the Delhi High Court.

AISHANI MENON
20 Aug 2023

On 9 August, the Delhi High Court added two important guidelines for officers, doctors, and other authorities in cases of medical termination of pregnancy of sexual assault survivors. The court said:

The medical termination of the pregnancy is to be carried out with "utmost caution" by the medical professional involved.

The investigating officer must ensure that the survivor is taken to the hospital within 24 hours of receiving an order for the medical termination of the pregnancy and ensure that the foetus is preserved (whenever such an order is issued).

The HC issued these guidelines after a 14-year-old survivor of sexual assault and her mother moved court this year, seeking termination of the pregnancy of the minor. She was over 24 weeks pregnant in January.

Continued: https://www.thequint.com/gender/medical-termination-of-pregnancy-delhi-high-court-guidelines-for-sexual-assault-survivors

20.08.2023

Commentary

Aishwarya Sinha

Child Welfare Committee

Delhi High Court

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

sexual assault and abortion

sexual assault survivors

India – Why the HC verdict on abortion beyond 24 weeks is progressive jurisprudence

The Delhi HC granted a 26-year-old woman permission to abort at 30-33 weeks in a progressive interpretation of the MTP Act.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022
Sambit Dash

The permission granted to a 26-year-old married woman by the Delhi High Court on Tuesday, December 6, to abort her foetus of about 30-33 weeks has become the focus of debates. A large number of people took to social media to express displeasure with Justice Pratibha M Singh's ruling. The verdict places paramount importance on the mother's will and her mental health, adding to the very few cases in India in which an abortion is permitted at an advanced foetal age. Justice Singh's ruling in this case where ethical and moral factors weigh high has added to the progressive jurisprudence on abortion laws in India, highlighting two crucial aspects – the legal interpretation of "significant foetal anomalies" in our social context, and the mental health of the mother.

Continued: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/why-hc-verdict-abortion-beyond-24-weeks-progressive-jurisprudence-170799

11.12.2022

Delhi High Court

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

Sambit Dash

significant foetal anomalies

Amended abortion rights in India

AKANKSHA KHULLAR
OCT 10 2022

On 29 September, in response to the case of a 25-year-old unmarried woman—whose plea to terminate her pregnancy in the 24th week was turned down by the Delhi High Court—the Supreme Court (SC) of India ruled that all women, regardless of their marital status can obtain abortions up to 24 weeks into their pregnancies. The apex court stated that the decision to carry the pregnancy or terminate it was firmly rooted in a woman’s right to her bodily autonomy and to choose the course of her own life where the artificial distinction between married and unmarried women cannot be sustained.

The change in the law has been hailed by many women and reproductive rights activists, who believe that the court’s judgement no longer discriminates and instead, expands the right to safe and legal abortions to every single woman, thereby, affecting the lives of millions in the coming years. But given the fact that abortion rights have not always been so free in India, the SC’s recent order begs the question as to how the expansion of existing acts and rules—in reality—will contribute towards the longstanding fight for reproductive and bodily autonomy of Indian women.

Continued: https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/amended-abortion-rights-in-india/

10.10.2022

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

Supreme Court Of India Grants Woman Permission To Abort At 24 Weeks

Allowing access to abortion only in certain cases such as rape, incest, divorce, or mental or physical illness implies that a woman's body must be violated by external agents for her to be able to gain full control over her own body.

By Debabratee Dhar
July 29, 2022

A 25-year-old unmarried woman was denied medical termination of pregnancy at 23 weeks by the Delhi High Court.

In India, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 permits abortion under a very specific set of conditions. Under the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, one can avail of abortion within 12 weeks with the approval of one doctor and only if it is carried out by a trained medical practitioner. If one’s pregnancy exceeds 12 weeks but is under 20 weeks, then it can be medically terminated with the approval of two doctors, as long as it is carried out by medical practitioners at a licensed institution.

Continued: https://feminisminindia.com/2022/07/29/supreme-court-of-india-grants-woman-permission-to-abort-at-24-weeks/

29.07.2022

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 2020

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules 2003

India – Court relaxes rules for woman to abort foetus suffering from congenital anomaly

Court relaxes rules for woman to abort foetus suffering from congenital anomaly

Staff Reporter
new delhi, July 15, 2019

The Delhi High Court has relaxed the law governing termination of pregnancy to allow a 27-year-old woman to abort her 25-week foetus diagnosed with a congenital anomaly which made it “impossible for the child” to remain alive after birth.

A Bench of Chief Justice and Justice C. Hari Shankar took the assistance of medical experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to determine the condition of the foetus suffering from Bilateral Muticystic Kidney disease with Oligohydramnios and Pulmonary Hypoplasia.

Continued: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/court-relaxes-rules-for-woman-to-abort-foetus-suffering-from-congenital-anomaly/article28431209.ece

15.07.2019