Who We Are

Who We Are

The Pratigya Campaign is a network of individuals and organisations working to advance reproductive rights, gender equality, and access to safe abortion care in India. It brings together 120+ members across health, law, media, research, and grassroots networks.

Since 2013, Pratigya has championed the right of all abortion seekers to safe and legal abortion, working with governments and partners to challenge stigma, influence policy, and safeguard reproductive choice.

More than a coalition, Pratigya is a collaborative space where diverse voices come together for shared learning, mutual support, and collective advocacy. It has evolved into a dynamic platform connecting actors across sectors and geographies, enabling knowledge exchange, amplifying efforts, and responding to emerging reproductive rights challenges together.

The legal landscape

Abortion has been legal in India for over five decades. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 was a landmark law that allowed abortion under specific conditions, mainly to protect the pregnant person’s life and health, in cases of rape or incest, or when there are serious foetal abnormalities. It was introduced to reduce unsafe abortions and prevent avoidable deaths.
 
Over time, amendments, including those in 2021, expanded gestational limits in certain situations, allowing abortion up to 24 weeks in specific cases. However, the law was written as an exception to older criminal provisions under the Indian Penal Code that penalised “causing miscarriage.” This legacy of criminalisation continues to shape public perception, many people still believe abortion is illegal, immoral, or unsafe.
 
Other laws, such as the PCPNDT Act (to prevent sex selection) and the POCSO Act (mandating reporting of sexual activity involving minors), have also created a climate of caution and confusion among providers, sometimes making access harder even when abortion is legally permitted.
 
The result is a gap between legality and reality. Many abortions still occur outside formal health systems due to barriers like misinformation, lack of privacy, limited trained providers, and social stigma.

The access challenge

Despite progressive legal provisions, access to abortion remains uneven and limited. Common barriers include lack of clear information, stigma, fear of being judged, uncertainty about where to go, and inconsistent implementation of the law across states and facilities. For young people in particular, these challenges are compounded by concerns around privacy, confidentiality, and autonomy.
 
This gap between what the law allows and what people are able to access in practice is where Pratigya focuses its work.

How Pratigya works

Pratigya functions as a collaborative coalition, bringing together organisations, networks and individuals across health, law, gender, youth engagement, media, research and community systems. Its strength lies in the diversity of its membership and the shared commitment to advancing reproductive rights and access to safe abortion.
 
Members contribute in different ways, through advocacy, research, legal expertise, service delivery insights, communications, community outreach and youth engagement. The coalition creates spaces for partners to align strategies, share evidence, amplify each other’s work and respond collectively to emerging challenges. Through convenings, joint campaigns, knowledge exchange and coordinated advocacy, the coalition works to ensure efforts remain connected, strategic and impactful.
 
At its core, Pratigya is driven by collective action, where members are both contributors and beneficiaries of a shared platform working towards expanded access and protected reproductive rights.

Pratigya Campaign

Advancing women’s access to safe, legal, and dignified abortion care in India through advocacy, collaboration, and collective action. Bringing together stakeholders across health, law, media, research, and grassroots networks, working with governments and partners since 2013 to challenge stigma, influence policy, and expand access to services.

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