Read Time: 04 minutes
While interpreting various facets of medical termination of pregnancy, the Supreme Court opined that when a choice is available to other women, then excluding unmarried women from the purview is unreasonable and unconstitutional especially when the issue pertains to health.
The Supreme Court recently held that Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) must refrain from imposing extra-legal conditions on women seeking to terminate their pregnancy in accordance with the law.
They need only ensure that the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act) (along with the accompanying rules and regulations) are complied with, a Justice DY Chandrachud led bench observed.
The bench also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and JB Pardiwala made these observations while holding that even unmarried women are eligible to seek termination of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks, from a consensual relationship.
Court added that an RMP’s decision to provide medical termination of a pregnancy is also influenced by the social stigma surrounding unmarried women and pre-marital sex, gender stereotypes about women taking on the mantle of motherhood, and the role of women in society.
It further observed that the social stigma that women face for engaging in pre-marital sexual relations prevents them from realizing their right to reproductive health in a variety of ways.
"They have insufficient or no access to knowledge about their own bodies due to a lack of sexual health education, their access to contraceptives is limited, and they are frequently unable to approach healthcare providers and consult them with respect to their reproductive health. Consequently, unmarried and single women face additional obstacles", the three-judge bench added.
Further, court noted that the social stigma surrounding single women who are pregnant is even greater and they often lack support from their family or partner which leads to the proliferation of persons not qualified/certified to practice medicine.
Such persons offer the possibility of a discreet abortion and many women may feel compelled by their circumstances to engage the services of such persons instead of opting for a medically safe abortion, observed the court.
Case Title: X vs. The Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Department Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Anr.
Please Login or Register
