From Criminalisation To Choice: The Journey Of Abortion Law In India
- IJLLR Journal
- 7 hours ago
- 1 min read
Gayatri Krishna, B.B.A LL.B., S.D.M Law College
ABSTRACT
The legal history of abortion in India reflects the country's changing relationship with women's reproductive autonomy, public health, and social morality. After being criminalized under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, abortion was viewed for a long time as a breach of morals and laws, rather than as a public health matter. The introduction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, was a decisive point for the conditional legalization for medical and humanitarian reasons. The ensuing amendments, especially the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021, have broadened access by lengthening the gestation period allowed, confirming that unmarried women have the right to access legal abortion services, and guaranteeing confidentiality. Judicial readings ;sin cases such as Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration (2009)1 have redefined an abortion as a constitutional right in the context of privacy, dignity, and personal liberty, in Article 21 of the Constitution. Nonetheless, barriers in practice, such as insufficient healthcare services and providers, the stigma associated with abortion, and inconsistencies in the law related to other statutes keep many women from accessing safe legal abortion care. This paper will analyse the legislative history, judicial history, and socio-legal context of abortion in India and asserts that true reproductive justice requires not just liberal law, but also implementation that promotes equity, awareness, and social change.
Keywords: Abortion, Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Indian Penal Code
