Cross-Border Telemedicine Abortions: Reconciling Reproductive Autonomy With India’s Legal And Regulatory Framework
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 hour ago
- 1 min read
Khushi Chaudhary, O.P. Jindal Global University
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the collusion of reproductive rights and access to telemedicine and abortion laws within the context of India and Ireland. India’s “Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 (amended in 2021)” is perceived to offer liberal access to abortion, yet the ambiguities of the regulatory framework governing telemedicine and cross-border consultations raises questions around the application of the Act’s liberal abortion access provisions. On the other hand, Ireland’s Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act, 2018 is the culmination of attempts to digitise abortion services after the constitutionally protected abortion ban (the Eighth Amendment) was removed, exposing the tensions between moral and technological realities. This paper examines the ways in which both jurisdictions deal with cross-border telemedicine abortions in which abortion pills and tele-consultations are offered to women through the internet from jurisdictions with accessible abortion services. Through doctrinal and comparative approaches, it is argued that, while technologies of telemedicine and the internet expand the reproductive rights of women and challenge the traditional jurisdiction of the state, liability and ethics surrounding clinical practice, they also severely test the limits and boundaries of jurisdiction. The paper concludes with the proposition that the divergence between the regulation of reproductive rights and autonomy and the laws governing digital health can be resolved through the interface of technology law, medical ethics, and human rights law.
Keywords: Reproductive rights, abortion law, telemedicine, cross-border healthcare, India, Ireland, reproductive autonomy, digital health regulation.
