“REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE IN INDIA: LEGAL BARRIERS, ETHICAL DILEMMAS, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN SURROGACY, ABORTION, AND ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES (ART)”
AUTHOR – RAGHAV AGARWAL* & DR. ROHIT KUMAR SHUKLA**
* BA LLB (H) FROM AMITY LAW SCHOOL, LUCKNOW CAMPUS.
** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR FROM AMITY LAW SCHOOL, LUCKNOW CAMPUS
BEST CITATION – RAGHAV AGARWAL & DR. ROHIT KUMAR SHUKLA, “REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE IN INDIA: LEGAL BARRIERS, ETHICAL DILEMMAS, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN SURROGACY, ABORTION, AND ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES (ART)”, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (6) OF 2026, PG. 251-264, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I628
ABSTRACT
Talk about control over reproduction now stirs tough debates across India’s courts. Where people’s choices meet society’s rules, new medicine often adds more questions than answers. Looking close at surrogacy, ending pregnancies, and fertility treatments shows how law can block basic dignity. Each topic stands connected – laws on one shape what happens in another. When court rulings limit access here, lives shift there. Medical progress moves fast, yet laws drag behind, leaving real harm in their wake. Personal freedom around having children faces constant pushback from outdated systems. Decisions made far from hospital rooms still echo inside them. Bodies become battlegrounds when policy ignores lived reality. Rules meant to protect sometimes do exactly the opposite.
Lately, India passed big new rules about surrogacy, fertility tech, and abortion – laws like the 2021 Surrogacy Act, the ART Regulation Act, and changes to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy law. These came with promises to stop abuse, protect patients. Yet at the same time, limits built into them stir worries about fairness, freedom, basic rights. Because of that, questions grow louder: do they truly help people make their own health choices? Or does power shift too much toward government oversight? A close look reveals tensions between care and control baked deep into each policy.
Keywords : Reproductive Justice, Surrogacy Rules in India, Abortion Rights, Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Article 21 and the Right to Control One’s Body, Human Rights Include Reproductive Decisions