One of the most important human rights of all the member of human family is right to life. This is a inherent and inalienable fundamental right of a human being. No person shall deprive of this right. Different Instrumenst has recognized this right nationally and internationally. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and International Covenant on Civil and Political rights 1966 had recognized this right in International Community. All the countries of this World have recognized this right as fundamental and essential right of a person. The basis of all other rights is right to life. When a person is not having right to life itself than why others rights are needed. Firstly, right to life should be available to humankind than only others rights can give to him to protect right to life. Our Constitution under Article 21 recognized Right to Life and Personal Liberty. It provides that “No one shall deprive of life and liberty except according to the procedure established by law”. However, right to life of unborn is in conflict with right to abortion. Right to abortion granted to a mother is against the constitutional mandate of Article 21. The term abortion according to Wikipedia Dictionary is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus resulting in, or caused by its death. Now to resolve the conflict it is very important to strike balance between the two rights. Somehow, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 tries to balance the rights in conflict. Before that, abortion was illegal in India. However, there were so many instances of illegal abortion reported the reasons were different. The objective of this act was to gives woman right to decide, to minimize the illegal abortions and to validate the women fundamental rights. This act allows abortion with 20 weeks of pregnancy if the birth of child will put mother’s life in danger, the pregnancy was resulted because of sex crime and the child in the womb is suffering from any deformity. The abortion shall done only by Registered Medical Practitioner (who at least had assisted 25 medical termination of pregnancy) in Hospital Maintained or established by Government with solely the written consent of women. Written Consent of guardian is needed if woman pregnant is unmarried and below 18 years or is mentally unstable. Recently Supreme Court of India allows a woman to undergo abortion in her 24th week of pregnancy.
