Rights of Women and Surrogacy – A Study of Reproductive Freedom

Eswarachari Karthik
School of Law, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India.

Volume III, Issue VI, 2020

The Right in the direction of privacy means that one’s information is not subjected to community examination. In the recent landmark case the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India got a prospect to deal with two main reproductive rights issues relating to surrogacy and reproductive freedom.  The Supreme Court has held that right to privacy is a fundamental right and a woman has the right under Article 21 to make her own reproductive choices whereas the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act places the choice of abortion within the fulfilment of the medical practitioners. There are various privacy concerns implicated in the process of surrogacy.  In this milieu, the research paper proposes to study and discuss various privacy issues triggered in surrogacy. The author would further explore the validity of the medical termination of pregnancy act in the brightness of the Supreme Court judgment on women’s right to reproductive choices and provide suggestions for reproductive justice of women. The paper aims to provide and highlight the International conventions and instruments in respect to Universal declaration of Human Rights and Women Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

Keywords: Right to Privacy; Fundamental Right; Surrogate Mother; Reproductive Right.

DOI: http://doi.one/10.1732/IJLMH.25337