The right of every woman to make reproductive choices without undue interference from the State is central to the idea of human dignity,” the Supreme Court of India said in a recent order. What ought to have gone without saying had to be emphasised as a woman over 25 weeks pregnant was not only denied her plea to terminate the pregnancy by the Gujarat High Court but had to wait 12 crucial days to find out the court’s verdict.
The SC, however, handled the case with due haste, ordering a review by a medical board and eventually passing an order that allowed the woman, by then 27 weeks pregnant, to terminate the pregnancy. The apex court rightly questioned the HC for its inordinate delay in deciding the matter and then producing a “clarificatory” order after the SC had taken up the case. The SC pointed out that the HC gave no reason to dismiss the woman’s petition.
In comparison to the United States of America, India’s abortion laws certainly seem progressive. However, in practice,the medical fraternity, the judiciary and society at large create as many barriers as the law would in American states to prevent a person from accessing an abortion legally and safely. In the Gujarat case, the woman had allegedly been raped under the false promise of marriage. The trauma inherent in violating her bodily integrity is worsened when society and the State expect her to bring to term a life created in the course of the violation.
The Gujarat HC reportedly adjourned the case, awaiting a response from the woman as to whether she would be willing to have the baby and give it up for adoption. The SC rightly questioned how “unjust conditions could be perpetuated by forcing a rape survivor to undergo pregnancy”. The answer is that too many people view the issue through a moral—the morality being their own—lens that considers a woman’s right over her body as subordinate to the gendered expectations of her body and its role in society. Laws are only the beginning. In a patriarchal society, a law that upholds the dignity of a woman, her right over her body and her life is only as good as its implementation. The judiciary and medical professionals must be educated that morals are personal and cannot be imposed on another.