Editorial 1 : In SC, questions of foetal viability and rights of unborn child
Recent Context:
- Recently, The Supreme Court is hearing a married woman’s request to end her 26-week pregnancy.
- The case has travelled to two different Benches of the SC, raising crucial questions on the decisional autonomy of a woman to abort, and the legislative framework.
What is the case about?
- The 27-year-old married woman, who already has two boys, has argued that the pregnancy was unplanned.
- She has said that her family income is insufficient to support another child, and that she is under medication for postpartum depression after the birth of her second child.
- On October 9, a two-judge Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and B V Nagarathna, after interacting with the petitioner through video conferencing, allowed the termination of the pregnancy.
- The court reasoned that an unwanted pregnancy due to failure of contraceptive methods is the same as a forced pregnancy for which termination is allowed up to 24 weeks.
- However, AIIMS, Delhi, wrote to the SC that it would need a directive on whether a foeticide (stopping the foetal heart) can be done before termination since the foetus is “currently viable”.
- On October 11, after the AIIMS report, the same Bench was split on allowing the abortion, and the case went before a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud. On Friday, the Bench called for a fresh medical report to indicate the foetal health and medical condition of the woman.
What is the law on abortion?
- The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act) allows termination of pregnancy in three stages.
- Termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks is allowed on the advice of one doctor.
- If a pregnancy is 20-24 weeks, the right to seek abortion is determined by two registered medical practitioners as an exception, but only under certain categories.
- Section 3B of the Rules under the MTP Act lists seven categories of forced pregnancies, including statutory rape in case of minors or sexual assault; women with disabilities; or when there is a change in marital status of women during pregnancy.
- After 24 weeks, a medical board must be set up in “approved facilities”, which may “allow or deny termination of pregnancy” only if there is substantial foetal abnormality.
Has the court allowed termination beyond 26 weeks?
- Yes, in several cases. On August 21, a Bench headed by Justice Nagarathna held a special sitting on a Saturday to allow termination of pregnancy of a rape survivor whose pregnancy was at 27 weeks and three days.
- However, the difference in this case seems to be the marital status of the woman, which indicates that the conception is consensual and not a forced pregnancy in that sense.
- In September 2022, a Bench led by Justice Chandrachud allowed abortion for an unmarried woman who was 24 weeks pregnant, and was in a consensual relationship.
- The Bench cited “transformative constitutionalism” that promotes and engenders societal change, and said that “the law must remain cognizant of the fact that changes in society have ushered in significant changes in family structures”.
- There are also instances in which courts have overruled the decision of the medical board to allow termination.
What about the rights of unborn child?
- The observations on Friday by the CJI-led Bench oscillated between the rights of a woman “must trump” when it comes to abortion, and the need to “balance out the rights of the unborn child”.
- CJI said that “There is no doubt that our law is far ahead of other countries. Our law is liberal and pro-choice,”
- While courts have read the MTP Act liberally, the test of “foetal viability” as a benchmark to allow abortion is new in India.
- The landmark 1973 US Supreme Court verdict in Roe v Wade that made abortion a constitutional right allowed abortion up to the point of foetal viability, that is, the time after which a foetus can survive outside the womb.
- Foetal viability in 1973 was pegged at 28 weeks (7 months), which is now with scientific advancement lower at 23-24 weeks.
- The criticism of India’s law is that the decision to terminate after 20 weeks is shifted to doctors and not the woman.
- While this aspect is not challenged in court, frequent cases of women approaching the court at the eleventh-hour point to a legislative gap.
- The Indian legal framework on reproductive rights tilts to the side of the woman’s autonomy to decide and choose more than towards the rights of the unborn child.
- In 2005, Rajasthan High Court in Nand Kishore Sharma versus Union of India rejected a challenge to the constitutional validity of the MTP Act on the grounds that it violates the fundamental right to life of an unborn child.
Conclusion: The debate over abortion brings the ethical dilemma between pro-choice and right to choice, autonomy over own body .Therefore in this situation abortion beyond a certain time duration should be carried out case by case while following rule, regulation , ethical and moral principles.
Editorial 2 : Cost of dal-Roti
Recent context:
- Recently, as per according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Consumer price inflation has fallen from 7.4 per cent to 5 per cent year-on-year between July and September, below the Reserve Bank of India’s 6 per cent upper tolerance limit.
What is the Inflation target?
- Under the Section 45ZA of RBI act1934, the Central Government, in consultation with the RBI, determines the inflation target in terms of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), once in five years and notifies it in the Official Gazette
- Under which Central Government notified in the Official Gazette 4 per cent Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation as the target for the period from August 5, 2016 to March 31, 2021 with an upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent and the lower tolerance limit of 2 per cent.
- On March 31, 2021, the Central Government retained the inflation target and the tolerance band for the next 5-year period – April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026.
- Section 45ZB of the RBI Act provides for the constitution of a six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) (which is headed by RBI governor) determine the policy rate required to achieve the inflation target.
- Therefore, the Inflation target is set by the central government and it is maintained by RBI through monetary policy tools.
The main contributor to inflation: food-based items
- It has come on the back of retail food inflation registering an even sharper decline, from 11.5 per cent to 6.6 per cent, during this period.
- Much of the food inflation is at present concentrated in cereals (10.9 per cent) and pulses (16.4 per cent), while the price increases in vegetables and milk — items that were a source of angst until recently — have considerably moderated
- There is also relief on the vegetable prices front than tomatoes, whose annual inflation has collapsed from a mind-boggling 202.1 per cent in July to minus 21.5 per cent in September.
- Edible oil inflation has been in negative or low single-digits for over a year. Inflation has been high for salt and spices, but sufficiently under control in sugar
- The long and short of it is that food inflation is no longer generalised. While it’s early to say that the worst is over, El Niño’s impact hasn’t been as bad as was feared.
- There was definitely a lot to worry about when India recorded the driest and also the hottest August this time. However, rainfall was 13.2 per cent surplus in September
Adequate rainfall is September will positively affect rabi crops
- Apart from providing life-saving showers for the standing kharif crop, it has pared the overall water level deficit in major reservoirs (relative to the 10-year average) to 5.6 per cent, from 13.8 per cent on September 6.
- Reasonably filled-up dam reservoirs and recharged groundwater tables should enable plantings for the coming rabi season, the prospects for which seemed dire till the monsoon staged a timely recovery in September.
- This should, for now, keep a lid on food prices in general. Food inflation is, if at all, limited to “dal-roti” — unlike when its effects extended even to sabzi and doodh.
Way forward:
- If food inflation isn’t across-the-board, it calls for a more nuanced approach from the government that balances both consumer and producer interests.
- Currently, it has chosen a sledgehammer strategy to keep prices low at all costs — through export bans/restrictions (on wheat, sugar, onion and most rice) and stocking limits (pulses and wheat).
- Privileging consumers over producers may be politically expedient too, as the former generally outnumber the latter.
Conclusion: The government also needs to take a view beyond elections: Are excessively pro-consumer policies conducive for investments in a sector with the highest employment potential, both on- and off-farm.