Unmarried Women Win Equal Abortion Rights

A significant turning point came with the Supreme Court's decision in X versus Principal Secretary,

Health and Family Welfare Department in 2022. The court held that unmarried women

must have the same access to abortion as married women. This extended the right to terminate

pregnancies up to 24 weeks regardless of marital status. Importantly, the court stated

that the decision to carry a pregnancy or terminate it lies at the heart of bodily autonomy

and decisional privacy. This judgment expanded the meaning of reproductive rights under Article 21 and corrected

years of discriminatory treatment.