FEMALE AUTONOMY AND GENDER JUSTICE WITH REGARD TO SURROGACY IN INDIA
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Abstract
The right of a woman or girl to make autonomous decisions about her body and reproductive functions is at the core of her fundamental rights to equality, privacy and bodily integrity. There is a need to pay more attention to gender development so that women lead more productive life goals and do not sell their bodies for ‘sex’ or ‘breeding’. The Union Cabinet has approved the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, according to which, commercial surrogacy is strictly prohibited and foreigners cannot access surrogacy in India, but altruistic surrogacy is allowed only to surrogate married couples in need given with the help of close relatives in the form of mothers, Surrogate mothers would have more rights over their children and would be offered legal aid. Similar policies exist in Thailand, Israel and Denmark. Supporting the bill, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said it would protect women from exploitation, especially by the large-scale medical tourism industry.
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