NEW DELHI: Women’s rights advocates applauded the Supreme Court of India’s ruling on Thursday, which stated that a woman’s lack of marital status could not prevent her from choosing to abort a pregnancy at any time up to 24 weeks.After the US Supreme Court overturned in June its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which had legalised the practise in the US, the right to an abortion has become divisive on a global scale.
A woman’s marital status cannot deny her of the right to an abortion, according to Justice D.Y. Chandrachud of India’s Supreme Court. “Even an unmarried lady can undergo abortion up to 24 weeks on par with married women,” he stated.The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, which dates back to 1971, had only allowed married women, divorcees, widows, minors, “disabled and mentally ill women,” and survivors of sexual assault or rape to have the procedure.
