India Passes Abortion Reform but Fails to Undo Barriers to Access
This week, the Parliament of India passed an amendment to India’s 50-year-old abortion law that fails to remove barriers to access and instead creates new ones. Following Presidential assent, per procedure, the amendment will become law. While [...]
Statement on India’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment
This week, India’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020 (‘MTP Bill’) was introduced and passed by the Upper House of the Parliament. The Bill amends the 50-year-old MTP Act, 1971, which sets the conditions, [...]
India’s Proposed Abortion “Reform” Fails to Undo Barriers to Access
An amendment to India’s 50-year-old abortion law, proposed as “reform,” fails to remove barriers to access and instead creates new ones. The amendment entrenches a harmful policy requiring women to obtain authorization by a medical practitioner for all abortion [...]
April COVID-19 Landscape: SRHR and Gendered Issues in Asia
Newsletter of the April 2020 updates regarding COVID-19’s effects on SRH services and gender issues throughout the Asia-Pacific region, more specifically: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia, and the Philippines. The Nepal RHRWG, [...]
Securing Reproductive Justice in India: A Casebook
Securing Reproductive Justice in India: A Casebook brings together judgements and orders by the Indian Supreme Court and High Courts across twelve reproductive justice issues. In India, courts have been at the forefront of recognizing and [...]
It’s time to end judicial authorization for abortion in India
It’s time to end judicial authorization for abortion in India Meera* was only 10 years old when she became pregnant after being raped. Meera did not know she was pregnant, and her family only realized [...]
Fact Sheet: Independent Thought V. India
On October 11, 2017, the Supreme Court of India issued a landmark judgment recognizing every girl’s right to bodily integrity, and penalizing rape within child marriage. In Independent Thought v. Union of India and Another, [...]
Ensuring Reproductive Rights: Reform to Address Women’s and Girls’ Need for Abortion After 20 Weeks in India
In May 2017, the Supreme Court of India denied a medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) to Z., a 35-year old woman from Patna, Bihar living with HIV who became pregnant as a result of rape. [...]
Reproductive rights are human rights.
Help us ensure that every government around the world guarantees them.
Ending Impunity for Child Marriage in India: Normative and Implementation Gaps
In 2006, India passed the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) to combat the widespread practice of child marriage. The PCMA prohibits the solemnization of child marriage below the age of 18 for girls and [...]
India Supreme Court Denies Abortion To Rape Survivor Living With HIV
India Supreme Court Denies Abortion To Rape Survivor Living With HIV (PRESS RELEASE) This week the Supreme Court of India denied a rape survivor living with HIV from seeking an abortion. In its ruling, the [...]
Reproductive Rights in Indian Courts
Over the last decade, Indian courts have issued several notable decisions recognizing women’s reproductive rights as part of the “inalienable survival rights” implicitly protected under the fundamental right to life. In certain ground-breaking judgments, the [...]
Medical Panel in India Grants Legal Abortion to Pregnant 14-Year-Old Rape Survivor
Medical Panel in India Grants Legal Abortion to Pregnant 14-Year-Old Rape Survivor (PRESS RELEASE) Four gynecologists informed the Supreme Court of India today that they determined a 14-year-old rape survivor, known as X, should receive [...]
Supreme Court of India Allows Medical Panel to Grant Legal Abortion to Pregnant 14-Year-Old Rape Survivor
Supreme Court of India Allows Medical Panel to Grant Legal Abortion to Pregnant 14-Year-Old Rape Survivor (PRESS RELEASE) Four gynecologists will determine whether a pregnant 14-year-old rape survivor can obtain a legal abortion, according to [...]
Reproductive rights are human rights.
Help us ensure that every government around the world guarantees them.