Reproductive Autonomy in a Globalized Context: The Supreme Court’s Impact on Abortion Laws in India

Abstract

In any democracy, for a vibrant and dynamic judiciary to perform, it is not always about doing justice but rather paving the way on how the justice is done, as per facts and circumstances and the dynamism of the society. In arriving at the same, the courts employ different tools/aids to interpret the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, in a way that it furthers both the purpose and text of the provision. Over the years, owing to the dynamic interpretation of the courts and various legislation actions, women in India has achieved a certain degree of protection and social status, nearly meeting the required international standards. The Indian Constitution as an empowering document consists of equality clauses. But mere existence of it as black letters of law serves no purpose to further the gender justice discourse. While gender justice remains an ongoing discourse in India, several special legislations exist to further the rights of women and in the process reducing gender disparities and inequalities. These include the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 to name a few. Even in the recent X v. Principal Secretary, the Supreme Court by virtue of purposive interpretation, brought ripple effects to feminist jurisprudence by extending abortion rights to unmarried women. This paper will thus seek to explore the evolving jurisprudence on abortion and the growing call for the liberalization of such rights, outline the concept of gender justice with reference to the role played by the Supreme Court of India to meet global legal standards of rights of women, and an analysis of the aforesaid case wherein the court dealt with the social stigma on unmarried women. The paper also seeks to delve into the philosophical discourse and ethical dilemmas women have to endure as regards their reproductive autonomy and its challenges in a multicultural society.