Abortion Laws in the United States and India: A Comparative Analysis

It has been a long-drawn battle for women to get their reproductive rights being legally recognised across countries. Time and again, these have generated debates because of their moral, ethical and religious implications. Historically, women have been categorised as the weaker section of society and have been denied basic human rights, including the right to choose to abort. The legislative frameworks have remained insufficient for quite a long time in addressing these issues at the grassroots level. Even in recent times, the overruling of the 50-year-long judgment of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of one of the most developed countries led to hue and cry. On the other hand, in developing countries like India, laws are being enacted and subjected to amendments so as to grant and recognise these reproductive rights of women. This paper aims to analyse the legal framework with respect to the recognition of reproductive rights of women and thereby draw a comparative analysis of US and India.