INTRODUCTION

Purposely terminating a pregnancy is called abortion. Abortion has been one of the hot contested topics these days due to the policies being implemented around the world. Every year around 73 million abortions take place globally. Recently there have been new laws on abortion in America that have been criticized by many people around the world. In India also the legality or illegality of abortion changes according to the situation. It is legal in certain situations for rape victims, and unmarried girls and for married women, it varies. It is illegal in the situations like if the person wants to abort the child on the basis of sex of the child. So, it varies accordingly. Many laws have been made on abortion in India and for that certain condition is compulsory to follow. Abortion can be performed by any girl. There is no legal age for abortion. The illegality of abortion does not stop abortion, it only makes it less safe because even after restriction by the government, people still access abortion but in an illegal and harmful way. And unsafe abortion is also the reason for death and injury happening in many countries. But many people abort their child because of the sex of the child especially girls which makes it a crime and binds the government to make it illegal for certain conditions.

DIFFERENT LAWS IN INDIA ON ABORTION

Till 1960, abortion was not legal in India and women can face imprisonment or a fine under section 312 of the Indian Penal Code that deals with the termination of pregnancy. But after the mid-1960s, a committee was set up to decide about the need for a law on abortion in India. Then in 1972, The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, of 1971 came into force except in the

state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was recently amended in the year 2021. In this amendment, The Supreme court allowed an unmarried woman to end her pregnancy till 24 weeks. According to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) act, 1971 -

• A doctor’s opinion was compulsory for abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. 
• But from 12 to 20 weeks, the opinion of two doctors was necessary to determine the risk involved to the life of the mother and child.
  According to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) act, 2021 (amended) -
• The opinion of two doctors was amended to advise of one doctor till the pregnancy of 20 weeks.
• Further, for pregnancy from 20 to 24 weeks, seven categories of women are being specified for seeking termination under section 3B of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) act

1. Minors (Girls who are below 18 need the permission of their parents to abort the child)
2. Change of marital status during the ongoing pregnancy that includes widowhood and divorce.
3. Survivors of rape or sexual assault
4. Mentally ill women
5. Women with physical disabilities
6. If the child after being born may suffer from abnormalities
7. Women with pregnancy in humanitarian settings or disasters or emergencies may be declared by the Government.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy act recognizes the women’s marital status but does not address the condition of unmarried women. The medical termination act, 2021 (amendment) is a vast improvement over the Medical Termination of Pregnancy act, 1971 but even though there is shot through discrimination, irrationality, and patriarchal society’s old habits of restricting women to make their own choice even about their bodies by making it the decision of judges. It is right to give these rights to the women who have suffered sexual harassment or were raped or the women who is being divorced or widowed. But also, the women who have not suffered from these should give the right to their own bodies. This right should not be taken on the basis that women have not faced these issues. Women can have many other reasons to terminate their pregnancy. She should consult her pregnancy with the doctor but at last, it should be her decision to have the child or not as her future is at stake here and the doctor’s future. Studies show that it is one of the reasons women suffer from psychological issues like depression, loss of self-esteem, anxiety, and many more. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy act should be twisted to focus more sharply on that goal.

WHEN IS ABORTION ILLEGAL IN INDIA?

Sections 312 to 316 of the Indian Penal Code, of 1860 deal with abortion. It also lays down the punishment for an illegal abortion. According to law, if the women terminate her pregnancy, not in the good faith, then she can face imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine. Under the law, abortion is illegal on two conditions –

• When a woman is with child, it means the situation when the gestation has begun 
• When a woman is quick with child, it means that the child’s motion is felt by the mother

A woman who is quick with child causes miscarriage, she will be punished for up to 7 years along with the fine. But it is not admissible on therapeutic grounds which means if it is necessary to abort the child to protect the life of the mother then it's not an offense. But if the abortion gets placed due to the sex of the child, then it will be a crime and punishment will be given accordingly. It is a crime to conduct any kind of test to check the sex of the child. The punishment for the same comes under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. The punishment changes according to the lifetime of the fetus, the more time is the higher the will be punishment. In 1995, Approximately 26 million legal and 20 million illegal abortions were performed worldwide which means with a rate of 35 per 1000 women or one in four of all pregnancies. Also, a WHO report estimates that 19 million abortions performed each year are unsafe. (1) But many countries started to change their laws on abortion and to make it legal. Over the last 25 years, more than 50 countries have changed their laws to make the abortion laws legal.

When people with unintended pregnancies face restrictions on abortion then they use the unsafe method of abortion. Global estimates from 2010-2014 demonstrate that 45% of all induced abortions are unsafe.(2) And from which one-third were with the least safe method is by the dangerous and invasive method. The unsafe method causes both physical and mental health risks to the body of women. And this causes violation of fundamental rights i.e., the right to life, right to privacy, and right to be free from degrading treatment and punishment which imposes both financial and emotional burdens on women. Unsafe abortion includes physical health risks like incomplete abortion, infection, heavy bleeding, uterine perforation, and damage to the genital organs. Death and injuries from unsafe abortion are preventable yet there are many deaths due to the restriction on women for abortion.

AMERICAN LAWS ON ABORTION

Recently on June 24, 2022, the Supreme court issued its decision in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health which overturn the decision of the previous landmark case of Roe v. Wade by eliminating the federal standard protecting the right to abortion. This seems to be one of the consequential decisions by the Supreme court that infringes on the fundamental rights of women over their own bodies. This ruling will result in a complete ban on abortion with some exceptions. Abortion rights activist states that the ruling will turn women into second-class citizens and nearly 36 million women will be affected by this decision. After the decision,  some states will ban abortion immediately while some states will take effect later.

CONCLUSION

Access to safe abortion is a human right for a woman. As everyone has a right to life, the right to health, and the right to be free from any discrimination or torture, women should also have the right to take decisions about their life or her body. Human rights law clearly states that only you have the right to take decision about your body and this is called bodily autonomy. Keeping it to the doctor or judge to decide about the carrying of child or force them to use some other method of abortion is the violation of right to life and right to privacy. And also, the women who uses unsafe method to abort the child can face cruel punishment. So, the government should give access to every woman to make their own decide about their body or life to protect the human rights of a woman. It is essential for the law to protect their rights and does not force them to seek unsafe method. But many people use this as an excuse to abort a girl child. So, government should be careful about this also and should check that no one commits any crime. Indian’s abortion laws aim to guarantee women’s rights on their life but are fulfilled with restrictions. These procedures are very archaic. These rights are given only on some specific conditions like being suffered from rape, teenagers etc. this leads to a lot of restriction on women and the acts should be helping not restricting. There is need to update the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) act according to the modern-day technology.

REFERENCE: 

1. Henshaw et al., 1999
2. Ganatra B, Gerdts C, Rossier C, Johnson Jr B R, Tuncalp Ö, Assifi A et al. Global, regional, and subregional classification of abortions by safety, 2010–14: estimates from a Bayesian hierarchical model. The Lancet. 2017 Sep.

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