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

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.

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)