Can India finally ensure stigma-free and safe abortion access?

The Abortion Rights Alliance will advocate for legal and policy reforms that expand access to safe, dignified abortion care without fear or delay

October 10, 2025

The Abortion Rights Alliance for Inclusion, Safety and Empowerment (ARISE), a national alliance of public health professionals, safe abortion providers, legal advocates, feminist and human rights organisations, was launched to demand urgent, coordinated action to ensure universal, stigma-free access to safe abortion services across India.

Despite the 2021 amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, which has expanded conditional access to safe abortion services for a wider category of abortion seekers, access remains deeply uneven. In a landmark judgement in 2022, the Supreme Court affirmed the right of a woman to terminate a pregnancy up to 24 weeks of gestation, within the context of the amended MTP Act, despite her marital status.

Continued: https://www.healthcareradius.in/awareness-and-promotion/abortion-pregnancy

10.10.2025

Abortion Rights Alliance for Inclusion Safety and Empowerment

abortion stigma

ARISE

Asia Safe Abortion Partnership

Dr Kalpana Apte

Dr Suchitra Dalvie

Family Planning Association of India

IPAS Development Foundation

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act

Vinoj Manning

INDIA – The urgent case for family planning and abortion awareness in tribal Rajasthan

Saturday, 13 September 2025
swapna Majumdar

The community health centre in Jhadol, Rajasthan, was recently in the news for a startling reason. It was here that Rekha Galbelia, a 55-year-old tribal woman, gave birth to her 17th child. Not only were the doctors taken aback by Galbelia’s multiple pregnancies and deliveries, it led the health department to flag high fertility rates among residents of tribal villages in southern Rajasthan as the primary challenge in population stabilisation. They also pointed out that multiple pregnancies among tribal women of the region were increasing maternal and neonatal health risks.

Luckily for Galbelia, she overcame the risks associated with pregnancy at a late age. But five of the 17 children she gave birth to over the years were not so fortunate, dying shortly after their birth. At 28.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, neonatal mortality, or the proportion of children dying in their first month after birth, is higher among the tribal population than the national average of 24.9. Poor or no access to healthcare and skilled health professionals, a lack of sexual and reproductive health information, and poverty are the leading causes of mortality.

Continued: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2025/columnists/the-urgent-case-for-family-planning-and-abortion-awareness-in-tribal-rajasthan.html

13.09.2025

News

Asia Safe Abortion Partnership

Hidden Pockets Collective

Promsex

Rekha Galbelia

Sexual Health with Equity and Rights

Will 80th UNGA theme of better together unite all world leaders on abortion rights?

By Shobha Shukla
Sep 12, 2025

“Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights” is the theme of 80^th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Would it unite world leaders to stop anti-rights and anti-gender pushbacks and deliver on the promises of gender equality and human right to health – where no one is left behind – is yet to be seen.

“Safe abortion right are part of sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice – and not separate. That is why in 1990, we first observed Safe Abortion Day on 28^th September (Campana 28 Septiembre) in Argentina and other places in Latin America, to advocate for decriminalising abortion and access to safe abortion services.

Continued: https://www.modernghana.com/news/1431797/will-80th-unga-theme-of-better-together-unite.html

India – How Getting An Abortion Is Linked To Contraceptive Use

Many women seeking abortion are disbelieved or discriminated against based on the contraception choices they make or do not make. Some were even denied abortion unless they use a long-acting contraceptive or undergo sterilisation. These systemic denials and attitudes have classist, casteist implications.

By Menaka Rao
7 Feb, 2025

New Delhi: In 2021, 30-year-old Radhika (name changed) got pregnant. She is a Delhi resident and has two children, and did not want another baby. She was taking 21-day contraceptive pills at the time, but admittedly missed a day, before she got pregnant. She said that she went to a private doctor to seek abortion, and he was disparaging in his attitude.

“The doctor said, ‘Women like you come to us only when you are pregnant. Why aren’t you careful?’” Radhika recounted. “When I told him that I missed having my pill for a day, he asked, ‘How can you forget? Do you forget to have your food?’”

Continued: https://www.indiaspend.com/gendercheck/how-getting-an-abortion-is-linked-to-contraceptive-use-941291

India’s Abortion Laws Offer Pregnant Women an Illusion of Choice

Complicated, overlapping and contradictory legislation places decisions in the hands of the medical and judicial establishments

Sohel Sarkar
September 9, 2024

In October 2023, a 27-year-old woman approached the Supreme Court in India with a petition to terminate her pregnancy, which was over 24 weeks. She had discovered it late and was undergoing treatment for postpartum psychosis following the birth of her second child, which left her without the “physical, mental, psychological and financial” wherewithal to continue with a third pregnancy. A two-judge bench initially ruled in her favor, affirming “the right of a woman over her body.”

Yet the law in India only allows for terminations over 24 weeks in cases of fetal abnormalities or to save the life of the mother, and the case was later reopened after a doctor from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a premier hospital and medical college in Delhi where the abortion was to be conducted, asked for a court directive on whether a “feticide” could be performed since the fetus, in her words, was “normal.”

Continued: https://newlinesmag.com/argument/indias-abortion-laws-offer-pregnant-women-an-illusion-of-choice/

09.09.2024

Commentary

1940 Drugs and Cosmetics Act

Abubha Rastogi

All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Asia Safe Abortion Partnership

Center for Reproductive Rights

CommonHealth India

conscientious objection

maternal mortality rate

medical boards for abortion

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act

sex detection test

Shantilal Shah

Subha Shri Balakrishnan

Suchitra Dalvie

World Health Organization

5 South Asian Platforms breaking the Abortion Stigma

Discover how South Asian platforms are shattering abortion stigma and advocating for reproductive rights with resilience and compassion.

March 1, 2024
By Balraj Sohal

In many cultural contexts, the discussion around abortion remains veiled in silence, compounded by deeply ingrained taboos and societal pressures. However, within the South Asian community, a wave of platforms have risen to challenge these norms.

These organisations provide practical support and a sanctuary for individuals grappling with this often-taboo subject. Additionally, these platforms represent a seismic shift in how abortion is perceived and addressed within South Asian communities.

Continued: https://www.desiblitz.com/content/5-south-asian-platforms-breaking-the-abortion-stigma

India has a liberal abortion law — then why are unsafe abortions so rampant?

An adult abortion seeker doesn’t need a husband or partner’s permission to get an abortion, and can terminate a pregnancy up to 24 weeks. And yet, 67% of the abortions in the country are unsafe.

MONDAY, JANUARY 02, 2023
Sukanya Shaji

When Dr Suchitra Dalvie was a trainee back in 1995, she was assisting in the surgery of a woman who had internal injuries following an abortion. “She had sepsis due to sticks being inserted in her uterus for termination of pregnancy,” Dr Suchitra, a gynaecologist who is now the Coordinator at the Asia Safe Abortion Partnership tells TNM. This is neither an isolated incident nor have things changed much in the last 25 years. “While such cases may be rarer in cities now, they are very much present in rural and semi rural areas due to lack of access to safe abortion services”, she says. Some studies estimate that at least eight women die in India due to an unsafe abortion every single day — 67% of abortions in the country between 2007 and 2011 are believed to have been unsafe. “Young women aged 15–19 were at the highest risk of dying from an abortion-related complication,” according to the United Nations Population Fund’s State of World Population Report 2022.

All this in a country that has one of the most liberal on-paper abortion laws in the world.

Continued: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/india-has-liberal-abortion-law-then-why-are-unsafe-abortions-so-rampant-171488

Why So Many Indians Watch YouTube To Know How To Get An Abortion

Turns out, that a large population in India is still not aware that abortion is legal.

By Adrija Bose
8 July 2022

A 25-year-old woman in Nagpur used household utensils to self-abort last year by watching a YouTube tutorial. The procedure that involves a safe place, safe tools and a trained medical practitioner was carried out by herself, in her own home when her parents were away. The woman survived but she had to spend days in the hospital, recovering from an acute infection from the procedure that could have killed her. This is not the only story of a botched abortion.

This is not the only story of a botched abortion.

Continued: https://www.boomlive.in/explainers/abortion-india-legal-watching-youtube-roe-v-wade-us-18465

Why Are We Restricting the Abortion Pill to First-Trimester Pregnancies?

By Lux Alptraum
JULY 8, 2022

For the past few years, medication abortions have been on the rise in the United States, accounting for 54 percent of abortions performed in 2020 (up from just 39 percent in 2017). With last month’s gutting overturn of Roe v. Wade, that number is now expected to spike even higher despite the legal risks in states where abortion is now criminalized. The reasons are obvious: Medication abortion — a.k.a. “the abortion pill” — offers a safe way to terminate a pregnancy from the comfort of your home, even in places where abortion is criminalized. Clinics may shut their doors and doctors may refuse to provide abortions, but pills remain readily available online.

https://www.thecut.com/2022/07/medication-abortion-pill-after-first-trimester.html

India’s abortion law still lacks a rights-based approach, gynecologist says

India's abortion law is progressive, but it is also problematic, says Dr. Suchitra Dalvie, a practicing gynecologist in Mumbai, India. The co-founder and coordinator of the Asia Safe Abortion Partnership unpacked the law and recent amendments to it with The World's reporter Chhavi Sachdev.

May 12, 2022
By Chhavi Sachdev

In India, abortion has been legal — within certain confines — for more than 50 years.

India's abortion law is progressive, but it is also problematic, says Dr. Suchitra Dalvie, a practicing gynecologist in Mumbai, India.

Continued: https://theworld.org/stories/2022-05-12/indias-abortion-law-still-lacks-rights-based-approach-gynecologist-says