India – Tamil Nadu Speaker joins Catholic anti-abortion rally — ‘Life begins at conception’

JCD Prabhakar’s appearance at the National March for Life brings an explicitly Catholic anti-abortion argument into Tamil Nadu’s political arena, where reproductive rights have rarely been organised along religious lines

Arun Janardhanan
Aug 11, 2026

The Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, JCD Prabhakar, joined a Catholic anti-abortion gathering in Chennai Sunday and declared that “life begins at conception”, placing one of the state’s highest constitutional office-holders alongside a movement seeking to persuade Indians to reconsider abortion through the moral theology of the Catholic Church.

Prabhakar, 73, a ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA from Thousand Lights, was addressing the fifth National March for Life, organised at Stella Maris College by CHARIS India under the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. More than 5,000 people attended, according to organisers. According to Prabhakar, the gathering was deliberately held around August 10, the date on which India’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act was enacted in 1971– a law that established a legal framework for abortion and was significantly liberalised by amendments in 2021.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chennai/jcd-prabhakar-tamil-nadu-assembly-speaker-anti-abortion-march-for-life-chennai-10826965/

11.08.2026

News

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India

JCD Prabhakar

Joseph Vijay

March for Life

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

Tamil Nadu

World Health Organization

India – TN Speaker’s anti-abortion rhetoric is more than a personal opinion

Anti-abortion sentiments have so far not played a major role in Tamil Nadu’s politics. Some argue that Speaker JCD Prabhakar’s stance is his own and cannot be interpreted as the state government’s. But Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay has said nothing yet.

Bharathy Singaravel
10th Aug, 2026

Abortion rights in India are hard-won. In 2021, the Supreme Court observed in a landmark judgement that reproductive autonomy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. That means a woman can choose whether or not to exercise her right to abortion.

Gods of any religion and their earth-bound spokespersons have no say in women’s bodily autonomy.

Yet accessing safe abortion, without judgement, remains a Herculean battle. Pro-life (anti-abortionist) noise continues to drown out the simple facts of choice and consent.

Continued: https://www.thenewsminute.com/amp/story/tamil-nadu/tn-speakers-anti-abortion-rhetoric-is-more-than-a-personal-opinion

India – Minor’s consent not enough for abortion’: Delhi High Court keeps doctor on trial

A survivor alleged sexual assault and pregnancy, after which she underwent termination of a six-week pregnancy at a medical centre in 2019.

Somya Panwar
Aug 7, 2026

Observing that a minor cannot consent independently to an abortion under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act), the Delhi High Court has refused to cancel criminal proceedings against a doctor accused of terminating a minor’s pregnancy without following required legal safeguards under the law.

It held that the law must determine where a doctor’s professional responsibility ends, and a citizen’s duty to report an offence begins. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav observed that Form I under MTP Rules is not just a document to record the doctor’s approval for termination, but it must also contain the reasons, such as cases where the pregnancy is alleged to have resulted from rape.

Continued: https://indianexpress.com/article/legal-news/minors-consent-not-enough-abortion-delhi-high-court-doctor-must-face-trial-10820942/

06.08.2026

Justice Purushaindra K Kaurav

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

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 – 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 – 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

Delhi HC seeks clarity in medical reports for abortions beyond 24 weeks

By Shruti Kakkar, New Delhi
Dec 21, 2025

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued directions while hearing a minor rape survivor’s plea, flagging vague medical opinions and procedural lapses by CWC and IOs.

The Delhi High Court has directed medical boards assessing requests for termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks to submit clear and specific reports detailing the exact gestational age, the victim’s physical and mental fitness to undergo the procedure, and whether termination would pose any risk to the victim’s life.

continued: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/delhi-hc-seeks-clarity-in-medical-reports-for-abortions-beyond-24-weeks-101766253970877.html

21.12.2025

News

abortion after 24 weeks

Child Welfare Committee

Delhi High Court

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

minors' access to abortion

India – Court Ruling And UK Report Ignite Abortion Safety Debate

A deadly illegal abortion case in India and new research on childlessness in the UK spotlight urgent questions over abortion safety, consent, and long-term consequences.

23 November 2025

On November 13, 2025, the Gauhati High Court in India delivered a landmark judgment that has sent shockwaves through both legal and public health circles. The Court upheld the conviction and seven-year rigorous imprisonment of an elderly woman for causing the death of an eight-month pregnant woman during a crude and illegal abortion procedure. This grim case, marked by the use of a fishing hook to forcibly extract the fetus, highlights the dangers of unauthorized abortion practices and the legal system’s determination to hold perpetrators accountable, regardless of age or intent.

The facts of the case, as reported by LiveLaw, are harrowing. The victim, already a mother of five, sought help from the appellant to terminate her late-stage pregnancy. Instead of directing her to a qualified medical facility, the appellant—who possessed no medical training—administered crude abortifacient substances and, in a shocking escalation, used a fishing hook to attempt the abortion. The result was catastrophic: massive hemorrhage, septicemia, and ultimately, the young mother’s death.

Continued: https://evrimagaci.org/gpt/court-ruling-and-uk-report-ignite-abortion-safety-debate-517413

24.11.2025

News

Gauhati High Court

Justice Kaushik Goswami

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

India – Sons at any cost

Three decades after the PCPNDT Act, sex determination rackets thrive across India, proving laws alone can’t defeat a son-obsessed culture.

Oct 19, 2025
Vitasta Kaul

In September 2025, Karnataka’s Health Department conducted a covert operation in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh to prevent a woman from undergoing illegal prenatal sex determination. The 30-year-old from Mandya district, already a mother of three daughters, had approached an agent across the State border after learning she could determine the sex of her foetus. When told the foetus was female, she planned to terminate the pregnancy in her fifth month. Officials from both States coordinated a decoy operation that dismantled the illegal network facilitating these cross-border procedures.

It was not an isolated case. In April, Haryana’s Rohtak district authorities busted a sex-determination racket operating out of neighbouring Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. Over 120 FIRs have been registered this year in the State for illegal abortion practices, including unlawful sale of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) kits, while nearly 300 of Haryana’s 1,500 MTP centres have had their registration cancelled or voluntarily surrendered. In Ahmedabad, a June raid uncovered a radiologist and nurse conducting sex-determination tests and abortions at guesthouses and patients’ homes.

Continued: https://frontline.thehindu.com/social-issues/illegal-sex-determination-india-pcpndt-failure/article70181889.ece

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