We understand that the right to life is one of the fundamental rights. However, there are times when one is forced to act against this very right, especially if it relates to an unwanted pregnancy. Recently, a Supreme Court bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan granted medical termination of a 30-week pregnancy to an 18-year-old girl, overturning an earlier Bombay High Court order. The judgement is extremely important, even historical one may add, considering that it will form the basis for many such cases in the future. Justice Nagarathna, after delivering the judgement, did make an observation of the difficult “moral and legal questions involved”, indicating how contentious the issue really is. “It is also difficult for us but what to do. Whether we should compel her to give birth to a child? Because the child which will be born is also ultimately going to be a life. Then there is another question if she can terminate at 24 weeks why not at 30 weeks?” the judge stated.
While some may argue that snuffing out a life, especially of an unborn child, is unethical and goes against the diktats of religion, it would do well to understand why such an act becomes inevitable. To start with, in the given case, the girl was a minor when she conceived and was not ready to carry out the pregnancy. Here, we need to take into account the reproductive autonomy of the pregnant girl. As the court emphasised, it cannot “compel a woman to complete pregnancy”, for to give birth is a matter of individual choice, however unethical it may sound to others. Secondly, in a society bound in traditions and social norms, where the birth of a girl child is still frowned upon, life for an illegitimate child and an unwed mother can be extremely hard and can have a psychological impact on the mother and the child. Then there is a bigger question of the right to one’s own body, especially for women when it comes to reproductive autonomy. Many women, let alone a minor girl, are not mentally, physically, and emotionally ready to become mothers, especially in cases where they were raped or pressurised to get pregnant by the in-laws to bear a male child.
There’s a lesson to be learnt here for all—sex should not be a taboo subject, not when the Internet has made access to porn easier. It is imperative that sex education be made part of the school curriculum, both in government and private establishments. Youngsters need to be made aware of safe sex so that such incidents are avoided in the future. Years ago, in 2007/8, unfortunately, India’s only official sex museum, Antarang, in Mumbai’s Kamathipura red-light area, closed due to low footfall. Today, there is an urgent need for many such museums across the country.
