A woman's right to reproductive choice is an inseparable part of her personal liberty and has a sacrosanct right to bodily integrity under Article 21 of Constitution: Supreme court of India

Supreme court bench consisting of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, Surya Kant and A.S. Bopanna set aside the judgment and order dated 15-07-2022 in CMA No. 30708/2022 passed by the High Court of Delhi refusing to grant 25-year-old women seeking termination of pregnancy of her 24 weeks stating it is not covered by any of the Clauses mentioned in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules 2003. Supreme Court passes ad-interim order allowing unmarried woman to terminate pregnancy of 24-week term arising out of a consensual relationship. The court observed that “denying unmarried women, the right to a safe abortion is baseless and violates her personal autonomy and freedom, when the same choice is available to other categories of women’.

A comparison has been made by the Supreme Court between the explanation 2 of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and explanation 1 of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Act 2021. On a proper interpretation of the statute, the court concluded that the prima facie falls within the ambit of the statute and allowed the petitioner to terminate her pregnancy.

The court requested the Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi to constitute a Medical Board in terms of the provisions of Section 3(2D) of the Act concluding that the fetus can be aborted without danger to the life of the petitioner, a team of doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences shall carry out the abortion.

The court applied the law laid down by Suchita Srivastava v Chandigarh Administration ((2009) 9 SCC 1), Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr v. Union of India and Ors. ((2017) 10 SCC 10), High Court on its Own Motion v. State of Maharashtra (2017 Cri LJ 218 (Bom HC)), and Khusboo v. Kanniammal (2010) 5 SCC 600) in this regard.

Case Title: X versus THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT & ANR.

Advocates before the Court:

Dr. Amit Mishra, Adv. Mr. Rahul Sharma, AOR for Petitioner(s)

Ms Aishwarya Bhati, ASG Ms. Deepabali Datta, Adv. Mr. Ketan Paul, Adv. Mr. Aman Sharma, Adv. Mr. B.L.N. Shibani, Adv. Mr. G.S. Makker, AOR for Respondent(s)

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