India SC allows minor to end 7-month pregnancy, says her choice matters

Apr 24th, 2026

In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India said that no woman can be forced to continue an unwanted pregnancy. The court clearly stated that a woman’s choice, health, and dignity come first. This decision came while allowing a 15-year-old girl to terminate her more than seven-month pregnancy, Live Law reported.

The case was filed by the girl’s mother, who sought permission to terminate the pregnancy as it had crossed the legal limit under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. The pregnancy was a result of a consensual relationship between two minors, and the girl did not want to continue it.

Continued: https://english.gujaratsamachar.com/news/national/sc-allows-minor-to-end-7-month-pregnancy-says-her-choice-matters-88178529738.html

24.04.2026

News

B V Nagarathna

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.

Supreme Court of India

India – Illegal ‘abortion’ clinic running for last 12 years busted in Odisha’s Badamba

The raid was led by SI Biswa Bandita Sahoo, who posed as a patient seeking abortion to gather evidence.

17 Apr 2026

CUTTACK: Badamba police on Friday arrested a 55-year-old man on charges of impersonating a doctor and running an unlicensed clinic. He is alleged to be performing illegal abortions for over a decade.

The police also seized several medical equipment from the accused, Jayant Bastia of Sunapal under Badamba block, which include a manually-operated suction machine, surgical dilators and tools, injections and medicines. Bastia was running the clinic from his house at Sunapal. Badamba IIC Paramananda Nayak said following a tip-off, the police conducted a raid at the clinic on the day and caught Bastia red-handed while he was reportedly performing an abortion. A woman, who was in critical condition and bleeding profusely, was rescued and admitted to the Badamba CHC.

Continued: https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bhubaneswar/2026/Apr/18/illegal-abortion-clinic-running-for-last-12-years-busted-in-odishas-badamba

17.04.2026

9 in 10 abortion petitions succeed in Bombay HC. A rare bright spot in Indian judiciary

When it comes to medical termination of pregnancy, the Bombay High Court almost always provides timely relief to the litigant.

Srikanth Rajkumar and Gokul Sunoj
09 March, 2026

She is a 14-year-old girl from a remote village in Maharashtra. A POCSO survivor, she had stayed silent about the repeated assaults against her. It was barely a month ago that a medical examination confirmed her pregnancy. Already past the 24-week statutory window for a legal termination, she found every door shut. The medical board didn’t allow it, citing a lack of authority. The Maharashtra government opposed termination outright, pushing instead for delivery and adoption. With nowhere left to turn, she walked to the doors of the Bombay High Court.

The judge wasted no time. He listed her matter as “First on Board,” held hearings on consecutive days, and met with her in private. In unequivocal recognition of her pain, the court allowed her to terminate her pregnancy. The court also ordered that if the procedure failed and a child was born, neonatal care would be provided at the government’s expense, with the state government stepping in for adoption.

Continued: https://theprint.in/opinion/counting-on-law/abortion-petitions-bombay-hc-indian-judiciary/2873486/

09.03.2026

Commentary

Bombay High Court

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

POSCO Act

Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh AdministrationX v. State of Maharashtra

India’s abortion law and the Chandrachud conundrum

Two conflicting decisions authored by former Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud have created a doctrinal puzzle over whether foetal viability or reproductive autonomy should prevail in late-term abortion cases.

Feb 18, 2026
V.Venkatesan

On February 6, 2026, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan permitted medical termination of a 30-week pregnancy, overturning a Bombay High Court order that had relied on a 2023 Supreme Court precedent to deny permission. The High Court had invoked X v. Union of India (2023 INSC 919), a three-judge bench decision authored by then Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, which had refused termination of a 26-week pregnancy of a married woman. Justice Nagarathna relied instead on a different 2024 three-judge bench decision, also authored by then Chief Justice Chandrachud, which had initially permitted termination, before the parents withdrew their consent, thus leading to recall of the earlier order.

Continued: https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/supreme-court-chandrachud-bvnagarathna-abortion-ruling-2026/article70647595.ece

India – Probe ordered into 1,499 abortions registered in Eluru district in 2025

Collector K. Vetri Selvi directs Police, Medical and Health departments to deploy decoy parties and register cases against scanning centres violating the PCPNDT Act

February 15, 2026
Rajulapudi Srinivas

Eluru district registered 1,499 abortions in 2025, according to the Medical and Health Department, and the Collector has ordered a probe into the incidents.

The district has 115 scanning centres, including 102 private diagnostic centres, said officials from the department at a recently held meeting to review the enforcement of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994.

District Collector K. Vetri Selvi directed the Police and the Medical and Health Department officials to take all steps for a stricter enforcement of the Act. “The sex ratio is 934:1,000 in Eluru district, which is alarming. Those violating the PCPNDT Act should be booked,” the Collector said.

Continued: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/probe-ordered-into-1499-abortions-registered-in-eluru-district-in-2025/article70635520.ece

15.02.2026

News

K. Vetri Selvi

PCPNDT Act

Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act

sex selection abortion

India – Supreme Court allows abortion of 30-week pregnancy of a minor, upholds right to reproductive autonomy

The court also said that there were cases in which women may have no other option but take the dangerous and life-threatening alternative of turning to quacks for an abortion

February 06, 2026
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the medical termination of a 30-week-old pregnancy of a minor, while noting that a person cannot be compelled to carry her pregnancy to its full term.

“What has to be considered in the instant case is the right of the minor child to continue a pregnancy which is ex facie illegitimate in as much as she is a minor and has to face this unfortunate situation of having the pregnancy owing to a relationship that she had,” a Bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan remarked in court.

Continued; https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/supreme-court-allows-abortion-of-30-week-pregnancy-of-a-minor-upholds-right-to-reproductive-autonomy/article70600629.ece

06.02.2026

News

B V Nagarathna

India Supreme Court

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971

minors' right to abortion

India – Forcing woman to continue with pregnancy violates her autonomy: Delhi HC quashes case against woman for lawful abortion

Here is the decision itself.
Decisions about pregnancy and the control over their body, fertility and motherhood choices should be left to the woman alone.

Prashant Jha
09 Jan 2026

The Delhi High Court recently observed that forcing a woman to continue with the pregnancy violates her bodily autonomy and integrity [Sanya Bhasin v The State & Anr].

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said that the decisions about pregnancy and the control over their body, fertility and motherhood choices should be left to the woman alone.

Continued: https://www.barandbench.com/news/forcing-woman-to-continue-with-pregnancy-violates-her-autonomy-delhi-hc-quashes-case-against-woman-for-lawful-abortion

09.01.2026

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

MTP Act

Neena Bansal Krishna

Sanya Bhasin v The State & Anr

India – Two arrested over illegal abortion after foetus found in Marsabit village

“Our officers acted swiftly to establish the circumstances under which the foetus was abandoned."

by FELIX KIPKEMOI
04 January 2026

Police in Marsabit have arrested two people in connection with an alleged illegal abortion after the body of a foetus was discovered in Malkalakore village, Drib-Gombo location.

The incident has shocked residents and raised fresh concerns about unsafe medical practices in remote areas.

Continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-01-04-two-arrested-in-marsabit-over-illegal-abortion

04.01.2026

INDIA – Married woman’s consent alone matters for abortion, says Punjab and Haryana High Court

The court was hearing a plea by the petitioner seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy in the second trimester

Jan 1, 2026

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that the consent of a married woman alone is sufficient for a medical termination of pregnancy, allowing a 21-year-old woman from Punjab to undergo an abortion without her husband’s approval.

The court was hearing a plea by the petitioner seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy in the second trimester. She told the court that she married on May 2, 2025, and that her relationship with her husband had been turbulent.

Continued: https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/married-womans-consent-alone-matters-for-abortion-says-punjab-and-haryana-high-court/cid/2140587

01.01.2026

News

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Punjab and Haryana High Court

spousal consent for abortion

INDIA – Gujarat HC hears abortion plea of raped minor from Dahod

Application withdrawn after girl is abducted again during proceedings; police register new case

Dec 26, 2025

An application was filed before the Gujarat High Court from Dahod seeking permission for the termination of an eight-week pregnancy of a minor aged 14 years and six months. The pregnancy followed an alleged rape, for which a complaint had been registered at Dhanpur Police Station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

… However, during the hearing on December 26, a significant development was brought to the court’s attention. The petitioner’s counsel informed the court that, while the matter was still pending, unknown persons had allegedly abducted the minor girl once again.

Continued: https://www.bhaskarenglish.in/local/gujarat/news/hc-hears-abortion-plea-of-raped-minor-from-dahod-application-withdrawn-after-girl-abducted-again-during-case-136779433.html

26.12.2025