From Marriage-Centric To Rights-Centric Abortion Laws: Evaluating The Transformation Of Indian Reproductive Jurisprudence
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 hour ago
- 1 min read
Sana Ali, Mody University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
The abortion law in India has undergone a gradual transformation from being centered on the institution of marriage and medically regulated, to one that is more constitutionally based, premised on individual autonomy and reproductive justice principles. Before the passage of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, abortion is classified as a criminal offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 except where it is performed in good faith to save a pregnant woman. The 1971 Act, as the first meaningful step towards legalizing abortion under certain circumstances, certainly represented a model change which favoured married women but still denied many unmarried women access to equal reproductive rights. Slowly this expanded the original legal conception of reproductive choice, as the constitutional jurisprudence under Articles 14 and 21 developed to recognize an increasing dimension of dignity, privacy, equality and personal liberty. This article discusses the shift from a marriage-based model to one based on rights, highlighting new jurisprudential trends. We argue here that while reproductive autonomy has been recognized as significant progress towards reproductive justice, limitations posed by social stigma, differential access to healthcare and medical gatekeeping hinder the full realization of reproductive justice in India. Reproductive autonomy we contend here is a critical step toward reproductive justice, but social stigma, differential access to health care, gestational limits and persistent medical gatekeeping prevent it from being fully realized in India requiring further legislative & institutional reform.
Keywords: Abortion Rights, Reproductive Autonomy, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, Article 21
