India's Supreme Court questions two-child policy as fertility rate declines sharply

India's Supreme Court ruled on November 4, 2026, that state laws disqualifying candidates with more than two children from contesting local body elections have become irrelevant given India's declining fertility rate. The Court characterized such restrictions as infringing reproductive autonomy rights, which it described as an inherent aspect of the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. The decision addresses a decades-old population control policy that critics have argued is coercive and discriminatory, particularly affecting lower-income families.