Supreme Court nod to terminate 24-week-old foetus

The Supreme Court on Monday granted permission to a rape victim to terminate her 24-weekold pregnancy after a medical board said the foetus has severe abnormalities and could gravely endanger the mental and physical health of the mother. “We direct the liberty to terminate the pregnancy by the pregnant mother in accordance with law,” a bench, headed by Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, and also comprising Justice Arun K Mishra, said in their order. 

The Judges passed the order after going through the submissions made by a team of seven doctors, who apprised the court that the foetus has severe abnormalities and could gravely endanger the “mental and physical health” of the mother. “Continuance of pregnancy despite knowing that the foetus had severe abnormalities was a violation of her fundamental right to life,” her lawyer, Colin Gonsalves, told the apex court. Gonsalves had challenged the constitutional validity of Section 3(2)(b) of Medical Termination and Pregnancy (MTP) Act that imposes a 20-week restriction on abortion. 

The woman, in her petition, claimed that she continued to suffer excruciating mental agony as the pregnancy resulted from rape and the foetus had serious abnormalities with slim chances of surviving the full term. Hospitals refused to terminate the pregnancy as it was beyond the legally permissible 20-week period, prompting her to move the SC. The MTP Act, 1971 permits a woman to terminate her pregnancy till 20 weeks if two registered practitioners express unanimous opinion that continuation of it would threaten the mother’s life or the foetus has severe abnormalities. The woman had approached the apex court seeking to change the Indian abortion laws. 

The petition of the woman, contended that the ceiling is unreasonable, arbitrary, harsh, discriminatory and violative of the right to life and equality.