CJI’s 2009 HC order finds resonance in SC ruling on 15-year-old’s abortion
The Supreme Court upheld its decision to allow the abortion of a 15-year-old girl's 30-week pregnancy, emphasizing reproductive autonomy and rejecting State or institutional override. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant reflected on his 2009 High Court judgment that similarly supported abortion rights for a vulnerable woman, which was later stayed by the Supreme Court. The current ruling marks a continuation of the legal debate over bodily autonomy versus State intervention in reproductive decisions.
- ▪The Supreme Court refused to reopen its order permitting the abortion of a 30-week pregnancy in a 15-year-old girl from Delhi.
- ▪In 2009, then High Court judge Surya Kant ruled in favor of terminating a pregnancy for a mentally disabled woman, asserting the constitutional court's parens patriae jurisdiction.
- ▪The 2009 ruling was stayed by the Supreme Court, preventing it from becoming settled law on reproductive rights.
- ▪Both cases involved vulnerable individuals and raised the issue of whether the State can override personal reproductive choices in the name of protection.
- ▪The current bench emphasized that medical or institutional opinions cannot supersede an individual's reproductive autonomy.
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CJI’s 2009 HC order finds resonance in SC ruling on 15-year-old’s abortionThe CJI told the courtroom that “the first judgment in the country in such a matter was delivered by me as a high court judge”.Updated on: May 02, 2026 7:00 AM ISTBy Utkarsh Anand, New DelhiShare viaCopy link The Supreme Court on Thursday not only refused to reopen its order allowing termination of a 30-week pregnancy of a 15-year-old Delhi girl, but also brought Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s own jurisprudential journey full circle, as the first judge of the country reflected on how a question of reproductive autonomy and best interest of the mother came up before him 16 years ago-- only for the law to take a different course.Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
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