India – 13-year-old dies after induced abortion in Delhi

Sept 24, 2023

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has registered a case of rape and death due to miscarriage on the basis of the postmortem report of a 13-year old girl who died in August in Narela Industrial Area. Cops are searching for her parents, who are absconding. They are probing whether they had given her any abortion pills.

Continued: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/13-year-old-dies-after-induced-abortion-in-delhi/articleshow/103899629.cms?from=mdr


Privacy For Minors Seeking Abortion Post Consensual Sex: Madras HC

In a significant legal announcement, the Madras High Court has ruled that doctors are not obligated to reveal the identity of a minor seeking termination of pregnancy due to consensual sexual activity.

Harnur Watta
Aug 19, 2023

In a significant legal pronouncement, the Madras High Court has ruled that doctors are not obligated to reveal the identity of a minor seeking termination of pregnancy due to consensual sexual activity.

This landmark decision was issued by a Special Bench of Justices N Anand Venkatesh and Sunder Mohan, specially convened to address cases involving the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Continued: https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/privacy-for-minors-seeking-abortion-madras-hc-ruling


India – Minors not banned from buying contraceptives, clarifies dept

January 21, 2023
Rachana Ramesh

Bengaluru: The Drugs Control Department of Karnataka issued a diktat to all pharmacists banning them from selling condoms, oral contraceptives and antidepressants to minors, as was reported on Wednesday. The move came after condoms, contraceptives, cigarettes and whiteners were found in bags of Class 10 students during a search by the management of a school recently.

Following this development, the Drug Control Department received several petitions requesting it to take suitable action. However, on Thursday, the department denied having issued the circular and media reports claimed that the Drug Controller of the state said that "they were only trying to create awareness by telling pharmacists to counsel minors who want to purchase condoms and oral contraceptives.”

Continued: https://newstrailindia.com/inner.php?id=11114


By recognising pregnant woman’s right to dignity and autonomy, Supreme Court has made informed decisions on reproductive health possible

On the International Safe Abortion Day, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court emphatically held that all women are entitled to safe and accessible abortions in India.

ROHIN BHATT
SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

WHEN the Delhi High Court dismissed the matter of X versus. The Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, I was apprehensive that this case would end in disappointment and result in a situation which is similar to  what is happening after the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dobbs versus Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) in the U.S. In an earlier piece for The Leaflet around this decision, I ended with the following question — “to what length must a woman have to go in order to protect her fundamental right of bodily autonomy under Article 21 [of the Constitution]?”

The Supreme Court of India, in appeal, has answered my question affirmatively in favour of the womanhood.  On the International Safe Abortion Day, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court emphatically held that all women are entitled to safe and accessible abortions in India.

Continued: https://theleaflet.in/by-recognising-pregnant-womans-right-to-dignity-and-autonomy-supreme-court-has-made-informed-decisions-on-reproductive-health-possible/


Time To Let Go Of Stigma: How Far Has India Come In Accepting Abortion?

Ratika Rana
11 Feb 2022

Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Day is celebrated on February 12 every year, and it aims to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health issues and reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

Women in India have always been at the receiving end of several social, cultural, institutional and operational challenges in all spectrums. Even after more than five decades of implementing the Maternity Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 1971, a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy, or abort her child, remains a debatable and taboo issue. More than 15.6 million abortions happen in India, and many of them are unsafe, thus putting a woman's life at risk.

Continued:  https://thelogicalindian.com/gender/sexual-reproduction-awareness-day-33905


India – Illegal Abortion Case Leads Police to 11 Skulls, 56 Foetal Bones in Hospital Premises

A day ago, a doctor and two nurses were arrested from the family-run Kadam Hospital, in Arvi city of Wardha district in Maharashtra.

The Wire Staff
Jan 15, 2022

New Delhi: Police have found 11 skulls and 56 foetal bones from the premises of a hospital under fire for performing an abortion on a 13-year-old girl.

Indian Express has reported that a day ago, a doctor and two nurses were arrested from the family-run Kadam Hospital, in Arvi city of Wardha district in Maharashtra.

Continued: https://thewire.in/government/illegal-abortion-case-leads-police-to-11-skulls-56-foetal-bones-in-hospital-premises


India – Jammu & Kashmir High Court Allows Abortion Of Rape Victim

India, thus, has been dubbed "the most dangerous country for women" by many human rights activists. But why is India so prone to gender-based crimes?

By: Asif Qureshi
08 Aug 2020

In a first, Jammu and Kashmir High Court has permitted a rape victim from Doda district to terminate her pregnancy. A 17-year-old girl (name withheld), who was 26 weeks pregnant, needed the court's assent since law allows termination after 20 weeks only if the mother's life is in danger. The abortion of the girl took place at Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh hospital Jammu on July 11.

The girl alleges she was kidnapped and raped by a man, Ashok Kumar on December 12 last year. He is under arrest. The decision to allow her to abort was taken by Justice Javaid Iqbal Wani after a panel of doctors submitted her medical report.

Continued: https://news.abplive.com/news/india/jammu-kashmir-high-court-allows-abortion-of-rape-victim-1307470


India – A pregnant silence on reproductive rights of women

A pregnant silence on reproductive rights of women
The country needs to recognise the wrongs and affirm the rights for advancing women’s sexual and reproductive health

Monday, 25 November 2019
Prabhleen Tuteja

Young women (15-24 years) constitute 11 per cent of India’s population, out of whom 41 per cent have faced sexual violence, 27 per cent are married before the legal age and 7.8 per cent (15-19 years) become mothers or are pregnant. The data on access to information on contraceptives reveals that only 17.7 per cent were informed about family planning by health workers and just 6.9 per cent women in Bihar and 11.6 per cent in Uttar Pradesh (UP) reported using contraceptives within marriage.

The policy level commitments on health, education and gender parity often look in absolute terms of changing certain societal norms through cash transfer based schemes, number of girls reported to be married before the legal age of marriage, status of body mass index and nutrition and sometimes enrollment in school and skill development among women. While evidence in these parameters are significant, this skewed approach to gender equality leaves out a range of issues, including prevalence of sexual violence and status of accessible sexual and reproductive health services. Stigma and fear attached to young women’s sexuality act as a major barrier in achieving gender equality.

Continued: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2019/columnists/a-pregnant-silence-on-reproductive-rights-of-women.html


How India’s Most Important Law for Children’s Safety is Leading to Unsafe Abortions Among Teenagers

How India's Most Important Law for Children's Safety is Leading to Unsafe Abortions Among Teenagers
The conflict of the POCSO and the MTP Act is making doctors hesitant to provide services to girls under-18 due to fear of prosecution, and teenaged girls apprehensive of seeking abortion services from legal providers, in turn, forcing them to seek unsafe abortion measures.

Adrija Bose
October 23, 2019

Delhi: A few days after discovering she is pregnant, Rekha*, along with her mother, went to Dr Samir R Pradhan, a gynaecologist in Mumbai. She wanted an abortion. The doctor tried to determine her age through her Aadhaar card but it mentioned only her year of birth.

Her school documents revealed that she's a couple of months short of 18 - anything less than that age means there can be no consent involved in sex. Or, that's what the law says. "An act of sex with a woman below 18 years is considered to be rape and we are bound by the law to inform the authorities," Dr Pradhan says.

Continued: https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/police-drama-or-unsafe-abortion-the-complicated-choice-for-pregnant-indian-teenagers-2359321.html


India – Criminalisation of even consensual sex between adolescents obstructs access to safe abortion for girls

Criminalisation of even consensual sex between adolescents obstructs access to safe abortion for girls

October 19, 2019
Vrinda Grover

Unsafe abortion is the third leading cause of maternal mortality in India, leading to about 10 deaths every day. ‘The incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy in India, 2015’ study records that of the 15.6 million abortions in 2015, only 22% were conducted in health facilities, whereas an overwhelming 78% abortions were done outside health facilities. Adolescent girls, in the age group of 16-18 years, are left at the mercy of life-threatening pregnancy termination methods. A 2010 facility-based study discloses that 20-30% of abortion seekers were unmarried young women and adolescent girls; and 16.7% of them were victims of sexual abuse.

Significantly, this life endangering vulnerability is abetted by the law. Section 19(1) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act stipulates mandatory reporting of all sexual offences against a child to the law enforcement authorities, and failure to report the same entails punitive consequences.

Continued: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/criminalisation-of-even-consensual-sex-between-adolescents-obstructs-access-to-safe-abortion-for-girls/