All women can now get an abortion up to 24 weeks into their pregnancies, regardless of their marital status.
A similar case made headlines in India only a few weeks after the US Supreme Court issued a contentious ruling allowing individual states to outlaw or severely restrict the ability of pregnant women to seek abortions.
The Indian Supreme Court's decision is being praised as "historic" and "a great stride ahead" for women's rights, in contrast to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which was overturned, which was characterised as "a huge step back for women's rights."
In a nation with 73 million single women, the decision—which stated that all women, even those who aren't married and people who aren't cisgender women, have equal rights to abortion—is undoubtedly progressive.
The decision was made in response to a petition that a 25-year-old single woman who had been in a consenting relationship and was 22 weeks pregnant filed with the Supreme Court in July.
Women's rights advocates all over India have praised the decision, and a reading of the verdict demonstrates why it is crucial on a number of levels.
In addition to granting all women the same rights and freedoms, the court recognised that single women can also have sex. This was a fairly novel idea in a country with a strong patriarchal culture where women have little sexual autonomy, premarital sex is frowned upon, and some communities even require brides to take a humiliating "virginity test" to prove that they are "virgin" on their wedding night.
Before, married women in India were permitted to undergo abortions up to 24 weeks into their pregnancies, but unmarried women were only permitted to do so up to 20 weeks. The 24-week timeframe was extended to all women by the court following this directive.
Reproductive rights advocates applauded the ruling, saying it ensured that the legislation does not discriminate and extends to single women the right to safe and legal abortions.
The Supreme Court ruled that the distinction between married and single women is arbitrary and cannot be upheld after reexamining the issue. The freedom to not have children and the right to have children and parent them honourably are both included in reproductive justice. So, a woman who is not married has the same reproductive rights as a woman who is married.
In addition, the declaration emphasises that reproductive rights go beyond the choice to have or not have an abortion.
Within its purview is the right of women to obtain information and instruction about contraception, sexual health, available methods of contraception, and the appropriate number of children to bear.
It asserts that everyone has the right to make their own decisions and that decisional autonomy is a crucial component of the right to privacy and dignified existence. Justice Chelameshwar earlier discussed this in the decision of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy & Anr. v. Union of India.
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