Importance Of Abortion

ABORTION

The term “abortion” or “to abort” in a narrow sense means the end of or the termination of the pregnancy so as to stop the birth of the child. In a broad sense abortion indicates the end of the pregnancy in an abrupt manner and thus, the prenatal human or the fertilized egg known as foetus is expelled from the womb before it is developed sufficiently to survive . The broader meaning includes the two aspects-

1. First aspect of the meaning includes the spontaneous or the sudden discharge/expulsion of foetus before its sufficient growth to survive, resulting in stoppage of the birth of the child which is termed as miscarriage.

2. The second part of the meaning includes the intentional procedure conducted for the removal of an embryo

Elective abortion- This is merely performed for any other reasons most commonly due to the contraceptive failure resulting in an unplanned pregnancy.

LEGAL RIGHT TO ABORTION IN INDIA

On the national level abortion has been discussed extensively and this leads to the arising of the questions which creates a state of dilemma in the minds of every person as to how to bring the balance between a pregnant woman’s right to abortion and an unborn child’s right to life. The concept of right to life is broad and given fundamental importance in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Article 21 says – “No person shall be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.

A woman is vested with various rights, out of which right to abortion is one fundamental right. Right to abortion is a personal choice and hence is recognized under right to privacy. A country like India is divided into various castes and social order is conducted through various norms, ethics, morals and religious aspects. The aspect of right to abortion is ruled over by such moral, ethical, religious, legal values and have a constant influence because of such

Union of India , the supreme court permitted Ms. X to abort her baby despite the fact that the duration of her pregnancy was 23 weeks which exceeds the duration of 20 weeks as mentioned in the MTP Act, 1971. The woman alleged that her pregnancy was an outcome of act of rape perpetrated on her. Before granting permission the court ordered to set up a medical board so as to confirm the health of the pregnant woman. The medical board confirmed that continuance of pregnancy would pose a risk to the pregnant woman’s health and thus, this reason was justiciable enough with the provisions of the Act to grant permission for the