India – Medical boards are gatekeeping abortion access

Expert committees constituted to advise courts on medical termination of pregnancy are advocating for the rights of an unborn child, not recognised in Indian law.

By: Ritika Jain
10 May, 2026

The Supreme Court, on April 30, disagreed with an appeal by a medical board, and permitted a 15-year-old girl in her third trimester to terminate her pregnancy. This was the second such case this year alone where the Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has argued for the rights of the foetus. However, the court was informed in a hearing on May 4 that the minor child gave birth to a baby boy on May 2.

The 15-year-old had become pregnant, the petition said, as a result of a consensual relationship with a 17-year-old boy. The Supreme Court bench comprising Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan overruled the Delhi High Court and permitted termination in an order on April 24, which was then challenged by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) seeking protection for an “unborn child”.

Continued; https://www.newslaundry.com/2026/05/11/medical-boards-are-gatekeeping-abortion-access

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 – Supreme Court allows abortion of minor rape survivor

By : AgencyFirst
Monday, Apr 22, 2024

New Delhi (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday allowed medical termination of the pregnancy of a 14-year-old rape survivor while noting that continuing the pregnancy may harm the physical and mental health of the minor.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala, allowing the girl to undergo abortion who is over 29 weeks pregnant, held that the urgency of the situation and the welfare of the minor necessitated the medical termination of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=183104&headline=SC-allows-abortion-of-minor-rape-survivor

22.04.2024

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

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

A narrow medical view on abortion endangers women’s agency

The sudden concern for 'foeticide' and 'beating heart' can tilt the concern in favour of the foetus — who is accorded personhood — while the full-fledged adult woman as a person is ignored. A similar tilt led to the overturning of women's right to abortion in the US in 2022

Written by Amar Jesani, Sunita Sheel Bandewar
October 24, 2023

In less than a year, pregnant women were made to go through two extremes by the Supreme Court. On September 29, 2022, a three-judge bench of the SC headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), in a case seeking permission for abortion, took a strongly principled stand by pronouncing that, “The right of every woman to make reproductive choices without undue interference from the state is central to the idea of human dignity. Deprivation of access to reproductive healthcare or emotional and physical well-being also injures the dignity of women” (X vs Principal Secretary, MoHFW, GoI).

The optimism due to the recognition of self-determination to abortion lasted for just about a year. On October 16, another three-judge bench headed by the CJI, refused a woman the choice to undergo abortion because her pregnancy had crossed the 24 weeks of gestation — the foetus was medically normal and her mental health condition, though severe, was pronounced to be manageable. The court seems to have privileged a narrow medical opinion against the principled position of giving primacy to the choice of abortion by the pregnant woman.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/abortion-narrow-medical-view-women-agency-8995992/

24.10.2023

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

India – The abortion right need not pit the woman against the foetus

Recent decisions from South Korea and Colombia have recognised that restricting abortion did not really protect the foetus. It simply pushed women to seek unsafe abortions and harmed their health.

Written by Gauri Pillai
October 21, 2023

The abortion right is in a state of flux globally. Much of it has to do with the role of foetal interests (or, in some contexts, foetal life) in setting boundaries to the right. The foetus played a significant role in the 2022 United States decision to roll back the right to abortion and the 2020 Polish decision to prohibit abortions on grounds of severe foetal anomaly. It also posed a challenge to the 2019 South Korean and the 2021 Colombian decisions to fully and partially decriminalise abortion.

In India, in contrast, foetal concerns have historically not been a major part of abortion regulation. At the time of passing the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 1971, only two members of Parliament protested against abortion (calling it “murder”). The others endorsed it and affirmed that “there is no violation of the right to life in any manner”. Courts, too, have followed a similar trend. At the very least, they have refused to enter into the question of whether the foetus has a right to life. In 2016, the Bombay High Court categorically decided that the right to life begins only at birth.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/abortion-right-woman-against-foetus-8993586/

21.10.2023

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Abortion seekers in India battle social stigma, poor medical facilities despite its legal status

A 2019 study published in the British medical journal BMJ Global Health unveiled that approximately two-thirds of abortions in India are categorised as unsafe.

Written by Sushmita Panda
October 18, 2023

The Supreme Court on Monday denied giving permission to a married woman who wanted to terminate her over 26-week pregnancy. According to the apex court, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Medical Board had found “no substantial foetal abnormalities” and a pre-term delivery carried the risk of being born with physical and mental deformities.

Reportedly, the woman had approached the top court seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy due to her inability to take care of the child due to post-partum psychosis and other health issues.

Continued: https://www.financialexpress.com/healthcare/news-healthcare/abortion-seekers-in-india-battle-social-stigma-poor-medical-facilities-despite-its-legal-status/3276184/

India – Supreme Court rejects plea to end 26-week pregnancy

A bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud also says that neither of the two AIIMS reports ‘indicates that a termination is immediately necessary to save the life of the petitioner’.

Written by Ananthakrishnan G
October 17, 2023

THE SUPREME Court on Monday declined permission to a married woman to terminate her over 26-week pregnancy, saying the AIIMS medical board had found “no substantial foetal abnormalities” and a pre-term delivery carried the risk of being born with physical and mental deformities.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, pointed out that the pregnancy had crossed 24 weeks — the upper limit for allowing Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP).

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sc-rejects-woman-request-end-26-week-pregnancy-8985563/

17.10.2023

News

Aishwarya Bhati

All India Institute of Medical Sciences

lactational amenorrhea

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

India – 26-week pregnancy abortion plea: SC asks AIIMS for fresh report on condition of woman, foetus

Written by Ananthakrishnan G
October 14, 2023

The Supreme Court on Friday said that India, unlike the rest of the world, has a “very forward looking law” on medical termination of pregnancy.

“Our law is far ahead of other countries. We don’t have the Roe vs Wade issue. Ours is a very forward looking law,” said Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, presiding over a three-judge bench, while hearing a woman’s plea to abort her 26-week-old pregnancy.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/26-week-pregnancy-abortion-plea-sc-asks-aiims-for-fresh-report-on-condition-of-woman-foetus-8982099/

14.10.2023