In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that unmarried women are also entitled to seek abortions for pregnancies that result from consensual relationships between 20 and 24 weeks. As per constitutional law, safe abortions that are unrelated to marriage are legal, according to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that socioeconomic realities must be taken into account while interpreting the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP). A 25-year-old single woman's petition led to the historic decision. The woman had filed an appeal against a Delhi High Court decision that stated that because she was single and the pregnancy was the result of a consenting relationship, she was not entitled to an abortion under the Act. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act does not require a woman to acquire her husband's consent for ending the pregnancy after the marriage has failed to work out, according to a ruling by the Kerala High Court that permits a woman
