ACCESSIBILITY TO ABORTION AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: A HUMAN RIGHTS ALONG WITH GENDER JUSTICE PERCEPTION

Abstract

Abortion and reproductive rights remain one of the most debated legal and moral issues across the world. The complication between a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and the States’s interest in protecting potential future life creates difficult legal problems. This article understands a comparative and doctrinal study of abortion rights, examining international human rights instruments, constitutional frameworks, and judicial interpretations across India, the United States, Europe, and Latin America. It critically evaluates the challenges in coordinating reproductive autonomy with ethical and cultural considerations while giving suggestions for ensuring access to safe and legal abortion services globally.

Introduction

Reproductive rights are essential to gender equality and personal liberty. Abortion, in general, has been related with religious morality, and political ideologies. While international human rights law increasingly recognizes the importance of reproductive autonomy, many countries remain divided in their legal frameworks. How abortion has been treated globally, highlighting advancements and progressive changes as well as regressive setbacks and situates the discussion within broader debates of human rights health care and constitutional law.[1]

Research Methodology

This study adopts a doctrinal (traditional legal research method) and comparative research methodology, relying on:

• International treaties (UDHR, ICCPR, CEDAW)
• Judicial precedents from India, the U.S., Europe, and Latin America
• Reports from the UN and WHO

Legal Framework: Global and Indian Context

In international level, reproductive rights recognize the broader human rights frameworks. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)[2], while not exactly mentioning abortion, establishes the conditions for the right to life, liberty, and security of person (Article 3), as well as the right to health (Article 25). The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) further approves women’s rights to equality and privacy. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has also mentioned that the right to health under Article 12 of the ICESCR as including sexual and reproductive healthcare.

The MTP Act of 1971[3] is the main legislation governing abortion in india. This Act previously allowed for abortions up to 20 weeks into pregnancy under few situations, including when the woman’s life was in danger or if she had suffered a serious health hazard, or where there were abnormalities or pregnancies done by rape. Access was increased by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act of 2021 by:

• Raising the abortion restriction to 24 weeks for specific groups, such as rape survivors and women those in need for it.
• Permitting abortion on the opinion of one registered medical practitioner up to 20 weeks, and two practitioners between 20 and 24 weeks.
• Introducing provisions for confidentiality to protect women’s privacy.

The Indian Constitution has been interpreted by courts to protect the reproductive rights under Article 21, along with Article 14, and Article 19. So, while abortion remains a statutory right, constitutional jurisprudence has advanced it to a fundamental rights analysis.

Landmark judgements of India includes cases like :

1. With the Supreme Court’s decision in Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration, a woman’s right to make reproductive choice, including the choice to procreate or abstain from procreating has been recognized as part of her personal liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution X v. Union of India (2017 onwards): The Supreme Court permitted termination beyond statutory limits in exceptional cases of fatal abnormalities, emphasizing the right to dignity and health.
2. c. Union of India v. Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (2017): Despite being essentially a privacy case, it reaffirmed that reproductive choice and other forms of decisional autonomy are covered by privacy.
3. Globally, the courts have also taken various stands for the issue of abortion, some of the cases are: a. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade recognized that the decision whether to continue or end a pregnancy belongs to the individual person and not the government. Roe held that the specific guarantee of “liberty” in the 14th Amendment of the b. U.S. Constitution, which protects individual privacy, includes the right to abortion prior to viability of the fetus.
4. c. The European Court of Human Rights has balanced reproductive rights with state regulation, through member states differ widely.
5. In Latin America, courts in Colombia and Mexico have recently legalized abortion, signalling a progressive growth in the country.

Critical Analysis

The discourse on abortion makes the tensions worse between individual rights and state regulation. On one side, reproductive autonomy is central to the gender equality, health, and dignity. Inadequate access to safe abortion frequently results in risky practices. States, on the other side, defend limitations by expressing concerns for public morality, medical safety, and the preservation of potential life.

In India, while the MTP Act represents progressive legislation compared to many other countries, the challenges remain:

• Medical gatekeeping: Women still need approval from the medical practitioners.
• Judicial delays: Many women are forced to seek the court permission for late abortions, often resulting delays that worse risks.
• Social barriers: Despite legal provisions, abortion remain stigmatized, and called taboo particularly for unmarried women and adolescents.

Recent Developments

In recent years, both India and Global community have witnessed significant development in reproductive rights.

• The MTP Amendment Act, 2021 in India was a progressive step towards boarding access for abortion.
• The World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) issued updated guidelines calling for legalization of abortion and wider access to safe procedures.
• X v. Union of India (2022), this landmark judgment discussed the right of an unmarried woman to exercise her reproductive autonomy.

These developments demonstrate how abortion rights are still discussed in light of changing political and cultural circumstances, reflecting both advancements and enduring difficulties.

Way Forward / Suggestions

To ensure effective reproductive rights, the following measures are crucial:

• Abortion should be acknowledged as a fundamental right as opposed to a formal right with conditions.
• Make awareness about reproductive healthcare and accessible, especially in rural regions
• Reduce the number of required approvals and increase the number of safe abortion providers to address medical gatekeeping
• Adolescent consent and martial rape should be included in the abortion framework using a rights based methodology
• Use public awareness and educate people to avoid the myth and stigma of abortion

Conclusion
Legal frameworks are necessary, but they are insufficient if they do not ensure knowledge, and affordability, and accessibility. States must strike a balance between individual liberty public health concerns while removing institutional and societal constraints on reproductive freedom[4]. In the end, respecting these rights is a commitment to justice, equality, and dignity for all people, not merely a question of healthcare policy.[5]

Other References:

1. Amnesty International – Abortion Rights Overview
   Amnesty International, Abortion Rights, https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/sexual-and-reproductive-rights/abortion-facts/.
2. International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) – Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights
   International Planned Parenthood Federation, Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, https://www.ippf.org/sites/default/files/ippf_charter_on_sexual_and_reproductive_rights_guidlines.pdf.

[1] Guttmacher Institute, The World’s Abortion Laws, https://reproductiverights.org/maps/worlds-abortion-laws/.

[2] Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, U.N. Doc. A/RES/217(III) (Dec. 10, 1948).

[3] Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, Act No. 34 of 1971 (India),

[4] Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Dec. 18, 1979, 1249 U.N.T.S. 13.

[5] World Health Organization, Abortion Care Guideline (2022), https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240039483.