Reproductive Rights in India

Abstract

In India, reproductive rights are recognized as part of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty, as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution.This includes the right to make free and informed reproductive choices, encompassing procreation, abortion, contraception, and access to quality reproductive healthcare. While India has legal frameworks for abortion and contraception, women continue to face barriers in fully exercising their reproductive rights. It has been 76 years since india got independence and there cannot be a more right time to analyse the position and space that women in India enjoy today.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Amendment Act of 2021 significantly expanded reproductive rights in India by extending the legal gestational limit for abortion from 20 to 24 weeks for specific vulnerable groups of women, including survivors of rape, incest, and other vulnerable individuals. This amendment also expanded access to safe abortion services, including for unmarried women, and increased confidentiality for women seeking abortions. The Supreme Court has consistently affirmed the right to reproductive choice as a part of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees personal liberty. 

INTRODUCTION 

Reproductive rights are the rights or freedoms guaranteed to the individual in relation to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) specifies that “Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health”. Thus, reproductive rights are substantial to the realisation of all human rights.

Reproductive rights of women are related to multiple human rights Reproductive rights of women are related to multiple human rights, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture, the right to health, the right to privacy, the right to education, and the prohibition of discrimination. Read here to learn the significance of recognizing the reproductive rights of women.

Reproductive rights are a fundamental component of women’s human rights, encompassing a range of rights and choices related to their reproductive health and autonomy.These rights are essential for women’s well-being, equality, and empowerment. The States have obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill rights related to women’s sexual and reproductive healty.

• Reproductive rights of in India

 Unlike in many countries, encompass a range of rights and issues related to their ability to make informed decisions about their reproductive health, family planning, and overall well-being.

Women have the right to access a  variety of contraceptive methods to make  informed choices about when and if they  want to have children. Reproductive rights include access to  family planning services, which provide  information, counseling, and services related to contraception and family size.  The government of India has implemented various family planning programs to  support these rights. Women have the right to make decisions about their bodies, including the right to  choose a safe and legal abortion. India’s . Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (amended in 2021), permits abortion  under specific circumstances and gestational limits.

• Access to comprehensive and accurate sexuality education is crucial for making informed 
• decisions about reproductive health. This education empowers women to understand their bodies, make healthy choices, and protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections.
• Child marriage, which can lead to early and often unsafe pregnancies, is a violation of reproductive rights. India has enacted the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, of 2006 to prohibit child marriage.
• Reproductive rights also involve protection from gender-based violence, including forced pregnancies and coerced reproductive decisions.
• Reproductive rights extend to the right to maternity benefits and support during pregnancy and after childbirth. The Indian government has enacted laws to protect these rights, such as the Maternity Benefit Act.

Efforts should be made to address health disparities that affect marginalized and underserved communities, ensuring that reproductive rights are accessible to all women, regardless of their social, economic, or regional background.Women have the right to breastfeed their infants and receive support to do so. The government has enacted laws and policies to promote and protect breastfeeding.

In India, governmental and non-governmental organizations work to promote and protect women’s reproductive rights.

Ensuring the full realization of these rights is an ongoing process that involves legal reforms, healthcare infrastructure improvements, and education. Women’s reproductive rights are essential for their overall health, well-being, and empowerment.

The Supreme Court of India and several state high courts have made important strides in recognizing the denial of reproductive rights as a violation of women’s and girls’ fundamental and human rights.

The Indian judiciary gave the landmark K.S. Puttaswamy judgment which bestowed upon an individual the sense and privilege of personal liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

In Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, the apex court has also extended the meaning of personal liberty by decriminalizing adultery and homosexuality.

• In the case of Independent Thought v. Union of India in the context of reproductive rights of girls SC held, that the human rights of a girl child are very much alive and kicking whether she is married or not and deserve recognition and acceptance.

Critical aspects of reproductive rights in india.

Right to Bodily Autonomy: Women have the right to make decisions about their bodies, including whether or when to have children. This includes the right to access contraception, the right to terminate a pregnancy (where legal), and the right to choose when and how to become a parent.

Access to Contraception: Women have the right to access a range of safe and effective contraceptive methods to make informed choices about family planning. This includes access to education about contraceptive options and affordable, barrier-free access to contraception.

Safe and Legal Abortion: In places where abortion is legal, women have the right to access safe and legal abortion services. Access to abortion is a critical component of reproductive rights, and restrictive abortion laws can have negative consequences for women’s health and autonomy.

Prenatal and Maternal Care: Women have the right to access quality prenatal care, safe childbirth, and postnatal care. Adequate healthcare during pregnancy and childbirth is crucial for the well-being of both the woman and her child.

Freedom from Coercion and Discrimination: Women have the right to make reproductive choices free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. This includes the right to refuse sterilization, abortion, or other reproductive medical procedures without their informed consent.

Education and Information: Women have the right to access comprehensive, accurate, and non-biased information about their reproductive health. This includes sex education that empowers individuals to make informed choices.

Access to Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Women who wish to have children through assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) or surrogacy, have the right to access these services and to make decisions about their reproductive future.

Protection from Harmful Practices: Women have the right to be protected from harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriages, and child marriages, which can have severe consequences for their reproductive health and rights.

Reproductive Healthcare Services: Women have the right to access comprehensive reproductive healthcare services, including screening for sexually transmitted infections, treatment for reproductive health conditions, and access to skilled healthcare professionals.

Privacy and Confidentiality: Women have the right to privacy and confidentiality when seeking reproductive healthcare services. Medical information should be kept confidential unless the woman chooses to disclose it.

Support for Parenting: Women who choose to become parents have the right to support and resources to ensure the well-being of themselves and their children. This includes access to parental leave, childcare, and support for working mothers.

Advocacy and Legal Protection: Women have the right to advocate for their reproductive rights, and governments are responsible for enacting and enforcing laws and policies that protect and promote these rights.

Violation of women’s reproductive health rights

Despite the obligations, violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are frequent. These take many forms, including:

• denial of access to services that only women require;
• poor quality services;
• subjecting women’s access to services to third-party authorization;
• forced sterilization, forced virginity examinations, and forced abortion, without women’s prior consent;
• female genital mutilation (FGM); and
• early marriage

Violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are often due to deeply ingrained beliefs and societal values about women’s right to make choices.

Patriarchal concepts of women’s roles within the family mean that women are often valued based on their ability to reproduce.

Early marriage and pregnancy, or repeated pregnancies spaced too closely together often as the result of efforts to produce male offspring because of the preference for sons has a devastating impact on women’s health with sometimes fatal consequences.

Women are also often blamed for infertility, suffering ostracism, and being subjected to various human rights violations as a result

Challenges

• According to UNICEF India and World Bank data, India counts among the highest number of maternal deaths worldwide. India witnesses 45,000 maternal deaths every year, coming to an average of one maternal death every 12 minutes.
• Unsafe abortions are the third leading cause of maternal deaths in India. Researches have shown that half the pregnancies in India are unintended and about a third result in abortion. Only 22% of abortions are done through public or private health facilities.

Lack of access to safe abortion clinics, particularly public hospitals, and stigma and attitudes toward women, especially young, unmarried women seeking abortion, contribute to this.

Doctors refuse to perform abortions on young women or demand that they get consent from their parents or spouses despite no such requirement by law. This forces many women to turn to clandestine and often unsafe abortions.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 provides for termination only up to 20 weeks. If an unwanted pregnancy has proceeded beyond 20 weeks, women have to approach a medical board and courts to seek permission for termination, which is extremely difficult and cumbersome.

The law does not accommodate non-medical concerns over the economic costs of raising a child, effects on career decisions, or any other personal considerations.

The silence around unsafe abortion leads to deaths of women and hides important problems that lie at the intersection of these concerns, such as the formidable barriers for adolescent girls to access reproductive health services, including abortion services.

Although India was among the first countries in the world to develop legal and policy frameworks guaranteeing access to abortion and contraception, women and girls continue to experience significant barriers to the full enjoyment of their reproductive rights, including poor quality health services and denials of women’s and girls’ decision-making authority.

Women are often made to face the weight of administrative delays. In one such example, a woman was prevented from having an abortion after 20 weeks, despite having requested one at 17 weeks.

Inconsistent judgments add to the general lack of clarity surrounding the conditions in which a woman may legitimately terminate her pregnancy.

Recently, Upholding the right to life of an unborn child, the Supreme Court turned down the plea of a woman seeking termination of her 27-week-old pregnancy.

Discriminatory guidelines like spousal consent being an informal but imperative condition to obtain reproductive health services implicitly or explicitly sabotage women’s reproductive autonomy.

Conclusion 

Reproductive rights are essential for gender equality, individual autonomy, and the well-being of women and their families. Ensuring that these rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled is a critical goal for achieving women’s empowerment and human rights globally.

Respecting women’s autonomy and choices in reproductive decisions is fundamental to reproductive rights. Coercion, forced sterilization, and other violations should be prevented.