The primacy principle in Indian abortion law: A (Mother of X) v State of Maharashtra

The primacy principle demands that the decision to terminate pregnancy vests in the pregnant person alone. It is rooted in constitutional guarantees of Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court, in A (Mother of X) v Maharashtra (2024), drew on the primacy principle as a values-based justification in allowing a minor to terminate her pregnancy at 29.6 weeks of gestation. India’s abortion law legislation – the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971—detracts from the primacy principle by placing doctors in key decision-making roles and insisting on gestational limits. A v Maharashtra bolsters the primacy principle by weakening these obstacles to pregnant people’s primacy within the abortion decision. However, it still does not fully eliminate these obstacles. For that, courts need to deploy the four-pronged proportionality test to challenge common State justifications put forward to detract from primacy.