Reproductive Autonomy And Constitutional Justice: A Comparative Study Of Abortion Rights
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Miss Debangana Gupta, B.A.LL.B. (Hons), LLM, Swami Vivekananda University
ABSTRACT
Abortion laws are among the most debated issues in constitutional and human rights discussions worldwide. Although more countries now view reproductive autonomy as integral to the rights to privacy, dignity, and bodily integrity, the legal approaches to abortion remain very different. This article examines the rights to abortion and access, focusing on the Indian context, and draws lessons from the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. It always traces how the Indian abortion law has changed from the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 to the 2021 amendments by highlighting how courts increasingly view the choice of reproductive rights as a key part of personal liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Abortion rights jurisprudence has tremendous theoretical value since it explains the inter-concept relationship between autonomy, dignity, and constitutional freedoms. Other comparative jurisdictions increasingly treat reproductive choices as aspects of both personal autonomy and human dignity, shifting the ambit of privacy from simple protection against intrusion to a right of decisional freedom. Abortion cases also show how courts weigh individual rights against the State's interest in the protection of the potential life of a child, demonstrating how different models of rights adjudication- proportionality analysis in India, equality-based reasoning in Canada and South Africa, and evolving standards in Europe work. Abortion, in terms of feminist and equality jurisprudence, reveals how the denial of abortion fosters structural inequalities, necessitating substantive and not merely formal equality. The debates also question the traditional public-private divide since reproductive choices are evidenced to be influenced by state power, access to healthcare, and social norms. Abortion of jurisprudence, therefore, becomes a site to further the examination of constitutional morality, judicial responsibility, and the interdependence of rights.
The study critically examines how the Indian Supreme Court has expanded the concepts of privacy and autonomy—especially in the wake of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017)—to situate reproductive rights within the broader framework of constitutional guarantees.
