Medical Termination of Pregnancy and the Persistent Challenges in India

The global discourse on reproductive rights has increasingly centred on securing safe and legal abortion access, with India emerging as a significant site of legal and medical deliberation aimed at curbing the harms associated with clandestine pregnancy terminations. Unsafe abortion remains a critical public health concern worldwide, contributing significantly to maternal mortality, particularly in nations with stringent anti-abortion legislation. Abortion laws vary considerably across different countries and are subject to change in response to the socio-political viewpoints of respective regions. In a noteworthy ruling, the Supreme Court of India reaffirmed that the right to reproductive autonomy, which includes the authority to terminate a pregnancy, is encompassed within the right to privacy and personal liberty as delineated in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The Court's interpretation of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and associated regulations reflects a recognition that legal frameworks must evolve in accordance with changing social realities. However, the verdict creates an unresolved tension between protecting the reproductive privacy of minor survivors and the investigative requirements of criminal law under the Protection of Children from Sexual offences Act. This article will critically examine the landmark judgement delineating reproductive autonomy in India, arguing that while the judgement is neoteric, it does not go far enough to address the practical challenges associated with medical termination of pregnancy.