Why are unmarried women not allowed abortion on grounds of failure of contraceptives in India?

When pregnancies maybe terminated by a registered medical practitioner (Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971)

A Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) will not be liable under the Indian Penal Code or under any other law if a pregnancy is terminated by him in accordance with this Act.

A pregnancy maybe terminated if where the pregnancy does not exceed 12 weeks a RMP and if it exceeds 12 weeks but not 20 weeks, 2 RMPs are of opinion formed in GOOD FAITH, that:

Pregnancy involves risk to the life of the woman or of any grave physical/mental injury;

Substantial risk that if the child is born it would suffer from physical/mental abnormalities to make it seriously handicapped;

A pregnancy caused by rape or failure of contraceptives used by any married woman or her husband for the purpose of limiting children is considered as grave injury to a woman’s mental health;

In order to determine if a pregnancy would cause a woman injury, her actual/reasonably foreseeable environment may be taken into account;

Pregnancy of a girl who has not attained the age of 18 years or who has attained the age of 18 years but is a lunatic will not be terminated without taking her guardian’s written consent and in any other case a pregnancy will not be terminated except with the consent of the pregnant woman.

It can be seen that failure of contraceptives does not come as a valid ground for abortion in case of unmarried girls. The legislation may therefore be considered regressive in its assuming that failure of contraceptives should only be a reason for married women to seek abortion. An unmarried girl can still seek remedy under the general clause of mental injury but in India, doctors are always hesitant to perform such abortions.