Is abortion a human right for women?

Since the Darwinian Revolution of the 19th century, human society has been questioned by plethora of debatable issues such as the origin of life, how we came to be, where we are headed etc. One of these debates centres on women's right to have an abortion. Although in ancient and primitive times there were widespread practices of abortion, the later period provided a better status to the unborn. This is evident from the punishment and compensation provided in Old Testament for hurting a pregnant woman. The unborn was treated as equal to human being at least for the purposes of its protection. However, with the passage of time, each person possesses the right to bodily sovereignty and human rights instruments tend to protect freedom internationally.
An abortion is indicative of 'a miscarriage, something mishap or unnatural. It is a procedure in which an embryo or foetus is prohibited from developing by artificial means. This can occur spontaneously as a miscarriage, or be artificially induced through chemical, surgical or other means'. Commonly, abortion refers to an induced procedure at any point in the pregnancy.

Right to abortion of the mother vs right to life of the unborn
Abortion laws throughout the world are influenced by religious, moral, and cultural sensibilities. The right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to security of person are major issues of human rights that are sometimes used as justification for the existence or the absence of laws controlling abortion. Many countries in which abortion is legal require that certain criteria be met in order for an abortion to be obtained, often, but not always, using a trimester-based system to regulate the window in which abortion is still legal to perform. Abortion debates, especially pertaining to abortion laws, are often spearheaded by advocacy groups belonging to one of two camps. Most often those in favor of legal prohibition of abortion describe themselves as pro-life while those against legal restrictions on abortion describe themselves as pro-choice. Both are used to indicate the central principles in arguments for and against abortion: “Is the fetus a human being with a fundamental right to life” for pro-life advocates, and, for those who are pro-choice, “Does a woman have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion” The prime argument in favour of prohibition of abortion is that the killing of an innocent fetus is a crime. an embryo (or, in later stages of development, a fetus) is a human being, entitled to protection, from the moment of conception and therefore has a right to life that must be respected. According to this argument, abortion is homicide. Further, many women suffer significant emotional trauma after having an abortion. The counter argument favouring abortion is that each woman has bodily sovereignty i.e. the sole right to make decisions about what happens to her body - no one should force her either to carry or terminate a pregnancy against her will.

Abortion as human rights
Human Rights are those rights, which should be available to every individual without any discrimination of any kind. The most important right of a human is the right to life. It is the supreme human right from which no derogation is permitted. It is inalienable.  Article 6(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966 prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of life. However, there are some controversial issues related to this prime right. One such issue is the question of right to abortion. Among other rights of women, it is believed that every mother has a right to abortion, it is a universal right. But the rights of the mother are to be balanced with the rights of the unborn. It is a woman's individual rights, right to her life, to her liberty, and to the pursuit of her happiness, that sanctions her right to have an abortion. Women's reproductive health advocates believe that as a fundamental human right, all women everywhere should have access to reproductive health and family planning services, including abortion. Reproductive rights are internationally recognized as critical both to advancing women's human rights and to promoting development. Formal laws and policies are crucial indicators of government commitment to promoting reproductive rights. Each and every women has an absolute right to have control over her body, most often known as bodily rights.
The following circumstances are practiced worldwide and accepted to be the valid grounds of women exercising their right of abortion:
a)    At the discretion of pregnant women when risk to mother's life and health;
b)    At the discretion of pregnant women when risk to child in the womb; and
c)    in emergency (to save life or to prevent grave permanent injury), certified by the operating practitioner as immediately necessary.

International instruments relating right to abortion
According to American Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man (Article 1) and the Inter American Commission of Human Rights  that 'abortion is legalized until the end of First trimester Right to life is protected from the moment of its conception'. Though ICCPR (Article 6(1), European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 1950 (Article 2) and Article 4 of the African Charter of Human and People's Rights (Article 4) deal with right to life,  they are silent on the issue of when does life begin. However, the liberal interpretations of those instruments have forced us to believe that the child is not to be protected from the time of its inception. The right to life of the fetus has to be balanced with the rights of the mother.
International courts and tribunals have not addressed the difficult philosophical issue of when life begins, but have focused on the meaning of the language used in the relevant treaties. They have generally held that the references to every human being or everyone or every person do not include an unborn fetus. Further, World Conference on Women (Beijing,1995) declares that the reproductive rights are human rights. CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women) has declared that to deny access to health services that only women need is discriminatory, and therefore recommended that governments make abortion accessible.
Rights activists all over the world are also striving towards establishing the fact that where women's access to safe and legal abortion services are restricted, the following human rights may be at risk: the right to life, the right to health (or health care), right to freedom from discrimination, right to security of person, right to liberty, right to privacy , right to information, right to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the right to decide the number and spacing of children (reproduction right) and the right to effective remedy.
The debate on the legality of abortion could go on endlessly like the argument about what came first, chicken or the egg. Abortion right of women in one hand saved lives of numerous pregnant women, helped many careless young people from reversing their mistake and brought back the normalcy of life and on the other hand it also killed many unknown leaders and scholars of future generations. The legal systems in different countries across the world have been influenced by the human rights perspective of the issue that mostly favours women's right of abortion though in a restrictive manner.  However, the choice remains in the hand of the lawmakers to make a reform in the legal system and make a difference. The law has to take care of the liberty of the mother as well as the unborn. As a hospitable community we should seek ways of providing support for lonely and frightened mothers, and for lonely and abandoned babies. We need to offer women with unplanned pregnancies as much love and support as they require and to assist them in finding compassionate alternatives.

The writers are Joint District & Sessions Judge and Advocate respectively.