The landmark verdict came on a petition by a 25-year-old unmarried woman.

New Delhi: All women are entitled to a safe and legal abortion process and making any distinction between a married and an unmarried woman in this regard is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled today.
The ground-breaking judgment by the bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice JB Pardiwala also saw the court recognise marital rape, though purely within the ambit of abortion.

The court ruled that under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, the definition of rape must include marital rape. This observation may pave the way for later judgments on marital rape, a subject of intense debate in the country.

“Married women may also form part of class of survivors of sexual assault or rape. Ordinary meaning of the word rape is sexual intercourse with a person without their consent or against their will regardless of whether such forced intercourse occurs in the context of matrimony,” the court said.

The marital status of a woman cannot be a ground to deprive her of the right of abortion, the court said, while ruling that even unmarried women would be entitled to terminate an unwanted pregnancy within 24 weeks. The court said depriving single or unmarried women of the right to abort an unwanted pregnancy is a violation of fundamental rights.

It said a distinction between married and unmarried women under the abortion laws is “artificial and constitutionally unsustainable” and perpetuates the stereotype that only married women are sexually active.

“Consequences of an unwanted pregnancy on women’s body and mind cannot be understated. Foetus relies on pregnant women’s body for nourishment and until it is born. Biological process of pregnancy transforms women body. The decision to carry pregnancy to full term or terminated is firmly rooted under right to bodily autonomy and decisional autonomy of the pregnant women,” the court said.