On abortion, Supreme Court places the woman at the centre

📌 Summary:

• The Supreme Court dismissed a curative plea filed by AIIMS contesting the Court's earlier decision allowing a 15-year-old rape survivor to terminate her 30-week pregnancy, reaffirming reproductive autonomy as a fundamental right

• Core judicial framing: "unwanted pregnancies cannot be burdened on the woman"; the state must "respect a citizen's autonomy of choice" — grounding reproductive rights in Articles 14 (equality), 19 (freedom), and 21 (right to life/dignity)

• Causal chain — why this matters constitutionally: (1) MTP Act 1971 made abortion conditional on doctor's consent, not woman's absolute right → medical paternalism embedded in law; (2) MTP Amendment 2021 extended upper gestational limit for certain categories (survivors of rape, minors, differently-abled women) to 24 weeks — but SC has now gone further for a minor rape survivor at 30 weeks; (3) SC's ruling establishes reproductive autonomy as a dimension of Article 21 (right to life with dignity), not merely a statutory right

• Significance: SC's framing counteracts the global trend of framing abortion as competition between two lives (foetal rights vs. woman's rights); India's SC firmly centres the woman's bodily autonomy

• Key data: India has one of the world's highest rates of unsafe abortion (~8 per 1,000 women of reproductive age); MTP Act 1971 was enacted to address perils of clandestine abortions

• Historical context: MTP Act 1971 was progressive for its time but limited by requiring doctor's consent; 2021 Amendment expanded access; this SC ruling further expands for vulnerable categories

• International angle: Contrasts sharply with US Dobbs judgment (2022) which overturned Roe v. Wade and removed federal constitutional protection for abortion; India's SC is moving in opposite direction

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — CONSTITUTION AND POLITY: Fundamental Rights (Article 21 — right to life, bodily autonomy); GS1 — SOCIETY: Women's rights, reproductive autonomy; GS4 — medical ethics

📝 Prelims Facts:

• MTP Act 1971: Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act; allows abortion up to 20 weeks (24 weeks for special categories after 2021 amendment)

• MTP Amendment 2021: expanded upper limit to 24 weeks for rape survivors, minors, differently-abled women, and certain other categories; removed requirement of two doctors' opinion up to 20 weeks

• AIIMS = All India Institute of Medical Sciences; had filed curative plea against the SC's order

• Article 21: Right to life and personal liberty — SC has progressively expanded to include right to health, dignity, privacy, bodily autonomy

🔑 Key Term: Reproductive Autonomy — The right of a person to make free and independent decisions about their reproductive health, including abortion, free from coercion, discrimination, or denial; recognised as a dimension of Article 21 by India's Supreme Court.