India, Feb. 10 -- The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to widely publicise a Supreme Court ruling that recognises the right of unmarried women to seek termination of pregnancy, stressing that access to this right should not depend on judicial intervention.

The direction was issued while hearing a petition filed by a 26-year-old unmarried woman, challenging Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 2021, which mentions the categories of women eligible for termination of pregnancy between 20 and 24 weeks. She contended that the 2021 amendment excluded the category of unmarried women, thereby violating their constitutional rights.

During the hearing on January 29, counsel appearing for the ...