Women’s Rights to Abortion: A Human Rights Approach

This article argues that the international instruments has played a very important role in changing the existing scenario on abortion laws and made many countries in compliance to it. It gives a positive contribution in upholding the rights of women with regard to the violations on this sector. Every woman has the right to life from unsafe life threatening treatments. It is significant to note that safe and legal abortion is the important human rights of women with regard to the abortion laws. In this paper the author brings to light the international instruments in protecting the women’s right to abortion. The author also looks into the condition of the abortions laws which are prevalent in the European countries as well as in India. Here, it is again pertinent to note that the very principle of law is that ‘law changes according to the changes in the society’. Complete ban to abortion is not the required solution to safe abortions, but it will only make the law worse. Here, the most significant part is that by way of legal abortions we are protecting the women against the inhuman and degrading treatments that are prevalent in many of the countries. Annually millions of women and girls are dying because of the unsafe treatments. So, if the law on abortion is specific and legible then we can avoid the unnecessary tactics on the subject matter. Regardless of the legality of abortion, under international law, states have both a negative obligation to refrain from violating women’s rights and a positive obligation to promote and protect them. The author also highlights the change that India witnessed after introduction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.