Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, people widely experienced barriers and impediments to accessing healthcare services in India, particularly sexual and reproductive health services. During the pandemic, barriers to abortion were exacerbated and overreliance on private healthcare during the lockdown highlighted the failure of the public healthcare system. This failure, along with the doctor-centric nature of abortion law led to several cases where pregnant persons approached courts seeking permission to medically terminate their pregnancies. A review of cases through the pandemic shows that courts failed to consider or grapple with the insidious barriers to accessing abortions that the pandemic only exacerbated. Abortion jurisprudence was inconsistent, with permission for abortion being granted or refused based on individual facts and opinions of court-constituted Medical Boards, rather than on the reproductive rights and autonomy of the pregnant persons. Courts only showed uniform leniency in cases where abortion was sought on grounds of fetal “abnormalities.” Courts made no move to set binding precedent that would enable pregnant persons to obtain abortions as a matter of right, rather than subject to the approval of judicial and Medical Board authorities.