Unmarried Indian Women Deserve Access To Safe Abortions

One of the many ways society polices women's bodies and sexuality is by creating different hierarchies of medical care that a woman could receive based on whether society approves of her lifestyle or not. For instance, did you know that the upper time limit to seek abortion care is different for married and single women in our country? While this could change legally, soon, it does make us wonder, when will women's rights stop being subjective to society's understanding of morality?

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act has to date discriminated between married and unmarried women by limiting the latter's access to abortion care to a certain limit. The prejudices were in Rule 3B(c) of the MTP Rules, 2003, which allows termination up to 24 weeks for women, who undergo a change of marital status during the pregnancy, but for unmarried women, it is 20 weeks.  

It was long overdue to push this limit so that unmarried women can have safe abortions till 24 weeks of pregnancy. In fact, women need complete autonomy, not a law or doctor deciding the fate of their reproductive rights. Abortions are not easy, especially for women who conceive outside of the institution of matrimony. Unmarried women face a lot of stigma, as pregnancy outside wedlock is unacceptable in society. Often humiliated by healthcare providers and outcast by their own families, unmarried women stand the risk of opting for unsafe abortion care, which could be detrimental to their health. A report published by the United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA) states that 67 percent of abortions in India are unsafe, and eight women die every day due to an abortion-related complication. 

Abortion care for unmarried women: Let us address the bigger roadblock

Unmarried women may opt for abortion due to various reasons. To mention a few- Pregnancy was unplanned, Never wanting to be a mother, or Pregnancy can stigmatise and cause her humiliation. Why can't abortion be thought of from a practical perspective? Unwanted pregnancy can change the course of a woman's life and induce mental trauma. Besides, it puts a financial burden on a woman and could force her into making personal and professional choices that she doesn't approve of.

Treating single women as equal to those who are married/ divorced can help them avoid the life choices they detest. It can give them an opportunity to start their life afresh.

One does wonder, what could have been the reason for this legal discrimination against pregnant unmarried women in our country? Is it that an unmarried woman cannot make a wise decision as compared to a married woman? Or by controlling our reproductive rights, was the law of the land inevitably trying to control our sexuality? Maybe it does come down to regulating women's agency and sentencing them to a lifetime of agony, if they dare to challenge social norms. In this case, it is choosing live-in relationship and casual sex over marriage, which only bear consequences for women, but not for men. So if it is all our sense of morality, is changing the abortion act to favour unmarried pregnant women enough to safeguard their agency and choice?

Suggested Reading: Abortion Right: The New Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill vs Old MTP Act

Court affirmations can not do it all, unless we get rid of social stigma around pre-marital sex and live-in relationships. An unmarried woman might still end up carrying on with an unwanted pregnancy if she faces shaming from healthcare professionals. She might end up in a marital alliance with a partner she doesn't love so that she can give raise her child without being constantly criticised by society. She might put her life into jeopardy by opting for an unsafe abortion because she cannot bring herself to do it the correct way out of fear of ostracisation. All these possibilities will not go away with even with the recent proposal to expand scope of the MTP Act by the Supreme Court. These will only cease to exist when we normalise pre-marital sex and accept pregnancies outside of a wedlock.

Views expressed are the author's own.