In a landmark judgment last year in July, Supreme Court allowed a 24-week pregnant woman and a rape survivor the permission to abort.

Still, in many countries, including the Unites States of America, a woman’s right to decide about her pregnancy is often put under the scanner. However, in India, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 has now made abortions legal but with certain limitations.

The issue of abortion and the right of a woman over her body and pregnancy was a rising concern due to increased cases of female infanticide in our country.

It is quite evident that most judicial people refrain from commenting on such topics off the record. But Supreme Court judge AK Sikri elated us with joy when he recently said that “it is the woman’s right to decide whether she wants a baby, or wants to abort or prevent pregnancy.”

While addressing the crowd at the symposium, organized by the Jindal Global University (JGU), on Reproductive Rights in Indian Courts: Celebrating Progress, Identifying Challenges And Discussing The Way Forward, Sikri said, “A woman’s choice to reproduce, abort or prevent pregnancy, deals with her body. It is she, who, by virtue of her anatomy, undergoes the process eventually.”

Sikri also stressed on the point that women in India have little choice when it comes to reproductive rights.

Despite projects such as Voice Your Abortion which tries hard to make every woman realize the authority they have over their bodies, women are either forced to abort (female foeticides) or are compelled to reproduce against their wishes.

As a result, women often resort to unsafe abortion methods. In fact, studies have estimated that millions of women undergo abortion each year and over 50% of those are done in highly unsafe conditions.