A Critical Review of Right to Abortion of Adolescents and Reproductive Justice in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69974/glslawjournal.v8i2.215Keywords:
Abortion, Adolescent, Reproductive, Justice, Human Right, Medical Termination of PregnancyAbstract
Abortion remains a deeply sensitive societal issue, characterized by the enduring conflict between pro-life and pro-choice ideologies. The Constitution of India recognizes reproductive autonomy as integral to right to privacy, liberty and human dignity. While reproductive autonomy serves as a broad concept, right to abortion is a critical component intrinsically linked to reproductive rights. The abortion laws of India, governed primarily by the MTP Act, 1971 with 2021 amendment, legalises abortions only under specific conditions. The regulatory framework of adolescent abortion under the Act failed to recognise the Principle of Evolving Capacities of minors evolved in the reproductive human rights initiatives of international law and the Indian judiciary. Termination of adolescent pregnancy in India requires the fulfilment of conditions, such as mandatory guardian consent requirements for termination of pregnancy of minors under MTP Act and mandatory reporting of adolescent pregnancy on the presumption of sexual assault of child, under the POCSO Act. Such restrictive procedural aspects often deter both the adolescent girls and medical professionals from providing services to adolescents, thereby obstructing access to timely, safe, and affordable care.
In this background, this article critically examines the evolution of abortion laws in the light of reproductive jurisprudence in India, by analysing the legal framework pertaining to right of abortion of adolescents. It argues that, in spite of the legal framework and judicial pronouncements to recognise reproductive rights of adolescents, inconsistencies persist in the legal mechanism necessitates a transformation of State centric approach to reproductive autonomy of adolescent girls.
Downloads
References
Arif Jamil et al., Women's Right to Abortion After Overturning Roe v. Wade: Contextualizing the USA and Bangladesh, 35(2) Dhaka U. L.J. 25–62 (2024).
Dipika Jain & Brian Tronic, Conflicting Abortion Laws in India: Unintended Barriers to Safe Abortion for Adolescent Girls, Indian J. Med. Ethics (2019).
United Nations, Abortion Policies: A Global Review vol. III, at 2–5 (United Nations Publications 1995).
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
Congressional Research Service, Abortion Law Development: A Brief Overview (2009), available at https://www. congress.gov/crs_external_products/RL/PDF/95-724/95-724.8.pdf.
Asit K. Bose, Abortion in India: A Legal Study, 16(4) J. Indian L. Inst. 536 (1974).
A. Parsapoor, M.B. Parsapoor & B. Larijani, Informed Consent, Contents, Conditions and Practical Methods, 5(1) Iran. J. Diabetes & Lipid Disorders 1 (2005).
Scott Sheeran & Nigel Rodley, Routledge Handbook of International Human Rights Law (Routledge 2013).
Olanike Sekinat Adelakun, A Comparative Human Rights Approach to Surrogacy Arrangements: A Study of India, South Africa and Nigeria (Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of S. Afr. 2023).
Comm. on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation No. 24: Article 12 of the Convention (Women and Health), U.N. Doc. A/54/38/Rev.1, ch. I (1999).
United Nations, Claiming the Millennium Development Goals: A Human Rights Approach, https://classroom-hrc.upeace.org/pluginfile.php/101/course/section/12/Claiming_the_Millenium_Development_Goals-1.pdf.
Ctr. for Reprod. Rights, Resources, https://reproductiverights.org/resources.
Id.
Kamalaveni Veni, Exploring Gender Violence and Reproductive Health Access in Crisis, in Resisting Gender Violence 211 (Susan M. Shaw et al. eds., 2026), https://open.oregonstate.education/resistinggenderviolence/.
Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 12, Nov. 20, 1989.
Pallavi Bajpai & Arushi Anthwar, Tracing Right to Abortion in International Human Rights Law and the Constitution of India with Special Reference to an Appraisal of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021, 11(1) Kashmir J. Legal Stud. (2024).
Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Crisis: Abortion in the United States After Dobbs, https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/18/human-rights-crisis-abortion-united-states-after-dobbs
Pallavi Bajpai & Arushi Anthwar, supra note 16.
Comm. on Econ., Soc. & Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 14: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health (Art. 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), ¶ 12(b), U.N. Doc. E/C.12/2000/4 (Aug. 11, 2000).
INDIAN CONST. art. 21.
Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration, (2009) 9 S.C.C. 1.
Devika Biswas v. Union of India, (2016) 10 S.C.C. 726.
Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr v. Union of India and Ors., (2017) 10 SCC 1.
High Court on Its Own Motion v State of Maharashtra, 2017 Cri LJ 218.
S.D.M. Law College, Ctr. for P.G. Stud. & Research in Law, Reproductive Rights and Legal Framework Addressing Population Issues: Proceedings of the One-Day National Seminar Organized by S.D.M. Law College, Centre for P.G. Studies and Research in Law, Mangaluru (Mar. 15, 2025) (2025).
X v. State of Odisha, W.P. (C) No. 5396 of 2025 (Orissa H.C. Mar. 2025), https://courtbook.in/pdf_upload/2025/03/X-v.-State-of-Odisha-Ors_compressed.pdf.
INDIAN CONST. arts. 39(e), (f).
Dipika Jain and Brian Tronic, supra note 2.
Indian Penal Code, No. 45 of 1860, §§ 312–316 (India).
Id. § 312.
Indian Penal Code, No. 45 of 1860, § 313 (India).
Id. § 314.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, No. 45 of 2023, §§ 88–91 (India).
S.D.M. Law College, Centre for P.G. Studies & Research in Law, Reproductive Rights and Legal Framework Addressing Population Issues: Proceedings of the One Day National Seminar Organized by S.D.M. Law College, Centre for P.G. Studies & Research in Law, Mangaluru on Mar. 15, 2025.
Dipika Jain & Brian Tronic, supra note 3.
Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, No. 34 of 1971, § 3(4) (India).
Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 1975, r. 5 (India).
Vivek Divan ed., The Bench and the Body: An Analysis of Abortion Jurisprudence in India (2019–2024) (Centre for Health Equity, Law & Policy 2024), https://bfda9b73-bb63-4945-b64d-2477e3eb985d.usrfiles.com /ugd/bfda9b_12b39d8d9d4d458b84571820dd70c8a8.pdf.
Ved Kumari & Kriti Srivastava eds., Kaleidoscope of Children: Issues Through the Lens of the Youth (Nat'l L. Univ. Odisha 2024), https://nluo.ac.in/storage/2024/05/Final-Kaleidoscope-of-Children-Digital-1.pdf.
Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 5, Nov. 20, 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3; see also Vesna Dejanović ed., Child Rights in Serbia 1996–2002 81 (Child Rights Ctr. 2003), https://cpd.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Child_Rights_in_Serbia_96-02.pdf.
Godfrey Dalitso Kangaude, A Feminist Post-Structuralist Critique of the Transformative Potential of Malawi’s Gender Equality Law to Promote Adolescent Sexual Health (doctoral dissertation, Univ. of Pretoria 2020).
Dipika Jain & Brian Tronic, supra note 3.
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, No. 32 of 2012, § 19 (India); X v. Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Dep't, Gov't of NCT of Delhi, Civil Appeal No. 5802 of 2022 (India), https://www.legitquest.com/case/x-v-the-principal-secretary-health-and-family-welfare-department-govt-of-nct-of-delhi-/3D81AA.
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, No. 32 of 2012, § 18 (India).
Dipika Jain & Brian Tronic, supra note 3.
Vijayalakshmi v. State, Crl. O.P. No. 232 of 2021 (Madras H.C. Jan. 27, 2021).
Sabari @ Sabarinathan @ Sabarivasan v. Inspector of Police, Criminal Appeal No. 490 of 2018 (Madras H.C. Apr. 26, 2019).
A (Mother of X) v. State of Maharashtra, Civil Appeal No. 827 of 2026 (India Feb. 6, 2026); see also Balancing Marriage and Bodily Autonomy: Experts Weigh Marital Rape Exemptions, Econ. Times Legal (Sept. 2024), https://legal.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/litigation/balancing-marriage-and-bodily-autonomy-experts-weighs-marital-rape-exemptions/113662105.
S. v. Union of India, S.L.P. (C) No. 14454 of 2026 (India Apr. 24, 2026).
