ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNIQUE ( REGULATION ) BILL 2016 : IMPACT ON THE ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA

Abstract

Surrogacy allows a woman to legally carry someone else’s child, but the desperation for a biological child has unfortunately turned the altruistic approach into commercial surrogacy. Prior to 2016, the absence of specific legal provisions to regulate commercial surrogacy in India along with a ban on such practices by most of the developing countries had led to the proliferation of the surrogate business in India. Perhaps the draft Assisted Reproductive Technique (Regulation) Bill 2005,  The Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA), 1956 and Sections 366(A) and 372 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 were the only existing laws on the subject, but they were not sufficient in dealing with the emerging dimensions of commercial surrogacy, i.e., vicious violation of human rights. With the introduction of ART (Regulation) Bill 2016, it needs to be probed whether its implementation has made it ethical on the one hand as intended and helped to curb this unethical and inhuman practice on the other in the current scenario.