SC on Abortion: The court acknowledged marital rape in the historic ruling as well, but only within the context of abortion.
SC on Abortion: Supreme Court Said This
The Supreme Court said today that it is unlawful to make a distinction between married and unmarried women in this regard and that all women have the right to a safe and legal abortion procedure.
In the historic ruling by the trio of Justices DY Chandrachud, AS Bopanna, and JB Pardiwala, the court also acknowledged marital rape but only in relation to abortion.
The court ruled that the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act’s definition of rape must include marital rape. This ruling might pave the way for future decisions addressing marital rape, a hotly debated topic in the country.
“In the category of victims of rape or sexual assault may also be married women. The magistrate stated that regardless of whether such forced sexual contact occurs during marriage, the definition of rape is generally defined as sexual activity with a person without their consent or against their will.
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Right To Abortion
A woman’s marital status cannot be use as a defence to deny her the right to an abortion, the court decided, adding that even single women would have permit to terminate an unwanted pregnancy at 24 weeks.
The court ruled that making an abortion legislation distinction between married and unmarried women is “artificial and legally unsustainable” and supports the myth that only married women engage in sexual activity.
The court found that it “cannot overstated” how an unintended pregnancy affects a woman’s health and mind. highlighting the biological changes that pregnancy causes in women’s bodies. According to the court, a pregnant woman’s right to bodily autonomy and decisional autonomy underpins her choice to either carry a pregnancy to term or have it terminated.
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SC on Abortion: Rights To Women
According to the verdict, if women with unintended pregnancies are oblige to carry their pregnancies to term, the State will be robbing them of the freedom to choose the short- and long-term course of their lives.
The petition of a 25-year-old single lady resulted in the historic choice. The lady had filed an appeal in opposition to a Delhi High Court ruling that she was ineligible for an abortion under the Act since she was single and the pregnancy was the result of a consenting relationship.
The woman had stated that her pregnancy was 23 weeks along and that her partner had declined to propose marriage. She had mentioned that she is the oldest of five siblings and that her parents are farmers, but that she does not have the means to rear a child.
On July 21, the court gave the lady permission to terminate the fetus as long as a medical board found that it wouldn’t harm the mother. The bench has then says that the word “partner” has been substitute for “spouse” in the 2021 amendments to the abortion statute. The court ruled that this proves Parliament did not intend to restrict access to abortion to just married relationships.
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