It is estimated that in India, a woman dies every two hours because of unsafe abortions. Just 10 per cent of the estimated 70 lakh abortions that happen in India every year are said to be documented; the rest are assumed to take place in shady clinics, often run by quacks. In a landmark ruling in September, the Supreme Court of India allowed a 13-year-old rape victim in Mumbai to terminate her 31-week pregnancy. Yet the same court in July ruled that a 10-year-old raped child, should not be allowed to abort at 28 weeks. On We The People we ask: Why did the families of these children have to go to the court for a private decision? And, is it time for the 46-year-old Indian abortion law to be amended?
