Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 29: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a order regarding the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act’s provisions for abortion. In a historic decision, the top court declared that marital rape will be recognised as rape for the purposes of abortion.
According to the apex court, a husband’s sexual assault of his wife will be considered rape under the terms of the act. The MTP act will include marital rape in its definition of rape, it was further said.
“Married woman may also form part of class of survivors. Rape means sexual intercourse without consent and intimate partner violence is a reality. In this case also woman may get forcefully pregnant,” the top court said while pronouncing the judgment.
The court was hearing a dispute regarding the MTP act’s requirement that unmarried women have the same rights to abortion as married women.
The court’s ruling that all women, regardless of their marital status, have a right to safe and legal abortions is a relief for unmarried women all around the nation.
According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, there cannot be any discrimination in the abortion process between married and single women.