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Reproductive Choice Insegregable To Woman's Personal Liberty: Bombay HC

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Polity & Governance
  • Published
    10th Oct, 2022

Context

The Bombay High Court was recently posed with a question whether a woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy without her husband's consent can be termed as cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act.

  • The Court underscored that a woman "cannot be forced to give birth to a child."

Reproductive Rights in India

  • The Puttaswamy judgment specifically recognised the constitutional right of women to make reproductive choices, as a part of personal liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. 
  • The bench also reiterated the position adopted by a three-judge bench in Suchita Srivastava v Chandigarh Administration, which held that reproductive rights include a woman's entitlement to carry a pregnancy to its full term, to give birth, and to subsequently raise children; and that these rights form part of a woman's right to privacy, dignity, and bodily integrity.

In general terms, Reproductive rights are the rights of individuals to decide whether to reproduce and have reproductive health. 

Important Conventions

India is also a signatory to numerous international conventions, such as the:

  • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
  • the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
  • the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
  • the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

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