5. State must take steps to ensure right to reproductive autonomy and dignity for all citizens
The Court asserted that the decision to carry the pregnancy to its full term or terminate it is firmly rooted in the right to bodily autonomy and decisional autonomy of the pregnant woman and stripping them of this right, is an affront to their dignity.
It then opined that reproductive rights also include in its ambit,
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right to access education and information about contraception and sexual health;
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right to decide whether and what type of contraceptives to use;
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the right to choose whether and when to have children;
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the right to choose the number of children;
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the right to access safe and legal abortions;
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and the right to reproductive healthcare.
“The MTP Act recognises the reproductive autonomy of every pregnant woman to choose medical intervention to terminate her pregnancy. Implicitly, this right also extends to a right of the pregnant woman to access healthcare facilities to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. It is meaningless to speak of the latter in the absence of the former.”
Therefore, the Court directed the state to ensure that the whole gamut of rights that make up reproductive rights are provided to all citizens, irrespective of region, religion, case, economic status, etc.
Source: Barandbench
