right to reproductive choice Archives

“Sexual assault” or “rape” under Medical Termination of Pregnancy laws includes “marital rape”: holds Supreme Court, without changing the contours of ‘rape’ defined under Section 375 IPC

“The nature of sexual violence and the contours of consent do not undergo a transformation when one decides to marry. The institution of marriage does not influence the answer to the question of whether a woman has consented to sexual relations. If the woman is in an abusive relationship, she may face great difficulty in accessing medical resources or consulting doctors.”

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Unmarried persons cannot be denied rights based on narrow patriarchal principles on “permissible sex”: Key takeaways from SC’s historic verdict on right to safe abortion

While the interim order was passed in the case on 21.07.2022, the Supreme Court took over two months to write a far-reaching 75-pages-long verdict, touching upon various aspects like purposive interpretation of Medical Termination of Pregnancy laws, equal status of married and unmarried or single women, right to reproductive autonomy, right to dignity, effect of unwanted pregnancy on mental health of women, etc.

Case Briefs High Courts

Delhi High Court’s ruling that led to Supreme Court recognizing unmarried women’s right to a safe abortion

Delhi High Court: A Division Bench of Sathish Chandra Sharma, CJ and Subramonium Prasad, J refused termination of pregnancy to an unmarried

Case Briefs Supreme Court

Woman cannot be denied right to safe abortion only on the ground of her being unmarried: Supreme Court

“Denying an unmarried woman the right to a safe abortion violates her personal autonomy and freedom.”