Thu Sep 29, 2022 – 4:55 pm EDT
NEW DELHI (LifeSiteNews) — India’s top court ruled on Thursday that all women, regardless of martial status, will now be able to lawfully abort their unborn children up until week 24 of pregnancy.
“The decision to have or not to have an abortion is borne out of complicated life circumstances, which only the woman can choose on her own terms without external interference or influence,” the nation’s Supreme Court said in its ruling, according to the Associated Press.
Thursday’s ruling was to ensure that abortions were able to be procured by all women, no matter their status in society. The previous law limited abortion access to single women at week 20 of pregnancy, while married women were permitted to kill their unborn children up until week 24.
“The artificial distinction between married and unmarried women cannot be sustained,” said Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud. “Women must have autonomy to have free exercise of these rights.”
Thursday’s ruling was prompted as a response to a pregnant single mother who was denied an abortion back in July because she was unmarried and had passed the 20-week mark for single
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