Supreme Court has used the term “pregnant persons” while claiming in its order that pregnancy can also be experienced by “some non-binary people and transgender men among other gender identities”.

The judgement authored by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, uses the term “pregnant person” or persons 41 times while adjudicating a matter pertaining to the termination of pregnancy of a 14-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted.

“We use the term ‘pregnant person’ and recognize that in addition to cisgender women, pregnancy can also be experienced by some non-binary people and transgender men among other gender identities,” a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said in a footnote.

By its April 29 order, the apex court recalled its earlier order allowing a 14-year-old rape survivor to terminate her almost 31-week pregnancy. This came after her parents expressed concerns about her health in light of the inherent dangers of carrying out the procedure in an advanced pregnancy.

The top court elaborated on the “primacy of the pregnant person’s consent in abortion” and said, “In case there is a divergence in the opinion of a pregnant person and her guardian, the opinion of the minor or mentally ill pregnant person must be taken into consideration as an important aspect in enabling the court to arrive at a just conclusion”.