IMPORTANT POINT
The court affirmed that women's right to bodily autonomy is paramount, allowing for medical termination of pregnancy under the MTP Act when psychological distress is evident, recognizing both de jure and de facto marital statuses.

JUDGMENT :

Devan Ramachandran, J.

1. Globally, always, at the core of all discourses relating to reproductive rights of women, is the inviolable doctrine of “bodily autonomy.”

2. Bodily Autonomy means “my body is for me; my body is my own.”

3. It is about power, choice and dignity - inherent in every human being.

4. Bodily Autonomy is the foundational edifice of gender equality and hence a constitutional right; and more so a component of the fundamental right itself.

5. It is only when women and girls have the means and ability to make decisions about their own bodies and lives – free from discrimination, violence or coercion – can they chart their own destiny, to realize full potential.

6. And when they do, the benefits extend not only to themselves, but to the community and to the nation itself.

7. Experience has long established that, societies flourish when women and children are empowered to exercise their Bodily Autonomy; but, many times, questions are posed as to its limits and perimeter.

8. According to the United Nations Population Fund (earlier called “United Nations Fund for Population Activities” or “UNFPA”), nearly half of all women in the world are denied Bodily Autonomy; and in its World Population Report of the year 2021, titled “My Body is My Own” it focuses, for the first time, on the power and capacity of women to make choices about their bodies without fear, violence or coercion. This report comprehensively dealt with women’s decision making power and on laws supportive of sexual and reproductive health and rights; highlighting the legal, economic and social balance, to secure Bodily Autonomy.

9. The afore becomes even more poignant when it comes to the right of women to seek Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) because, as the World Economic Forum has found in their research, denying women access to abortion, triggers outcomes that reverberate throughout their lives, impacting everything from the school years, how much they earn and live in future.

10. Margaret Atwood, who authored the landmark novel on Dystopian Patriarchy titled the “‘The Handmaid’s Tale”, wrote that, “for every headline about gains in reproductive rights, there seem to be others underscoring how fragile these are, wherever you live.”

11. The UN Working Group on discrimination against women and children has expressed deep concern about severe challenges to the universality of women’s rights in the global community. It is worth reminding ourselves that human rights - which include the rights without discrimination to: equality, dignity, autonomy, information, bodily integrity, respect for private life, the highest attainable standard of health, including sexual and reproductive health and freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment - are now virtually recognized to be sacrosanct.

12. The United Nations have declared that the right of a woman or girl to make an autonomous decisions of her own body and reproductive functions, is an undeniable basic right to equality, privacy and bodily integrity.

13. This Court has begun this judgment with this exordium because, it is without doubt that the decision to continue a pregnancy or terminate it, may shape the women’s entire future life, as well as her family life; and this decision will have a crucial impact on her enjoyment of other human rights.

14. The decision is, therefore, functionally and primarily, the women’s decision and ought to be only the women’s decision.

15. The petitioner in this case is a young lady, who is carrying a pregnancy of about 23 weeks, who says she is now separated from her husband – the 5th respondent herein. She alleges that she has been subjected to cruelty by her husband and narrates several such instances in the Memorandum of this Writ Petition; and asserts that she had, therefore, been forced to approach the jurisdictional Family Court, seeking divorce. She says that she is, therefore, in a very fragile psychological position, being forced to carry a pregnancy, even while she