Mumbai woman gets SC nod to abort sick foetus

Court says a woman can abort if foetus poses danger to mother’s life saying ‘she has the right to preserve her life’
For representational purpose
For representational purpose

NEW DELHI: In a huge relief to a 22-year-old woman in her 24th week of pregnancy from Mumbai, the Supreme Court on Monday granted her the permission to undergo termination of pregnancy after medical reports found the foetus to be without a skull.

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said, a woman can abort if foetus poses danger to mother’s life and said, “Woman has the right to preserve her life.”
“We consider it appropriate and in the interest of justice, particularly the right of the petitioner to preserve her life by permitting her to undergo the termination of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP),” the bench said.

The court also directed that the termination of pregnancy be performed by a team of doctors of the hospital which shall maintain a complete record of the procedure adopted in the matter.
The court referred to the report of the seven-member medical board and said, “The medical evidence clearly suggests that there is no point in allowing the petitioner to run in full course since the foetus would not be able to survive outside the uterus without a skull.”

In her petition, the woman had claimed that the foetus was diagnosed with anencephaly in the 21st week of gestation when she had a sonography done at a private clinic in the western suburbs of Mumbai. Anencephaly is a congenital defect, with the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull and scalp. In her petition, the woman called the ceiling unreasonable because determination of foetal abnormality in many cases can only be done after the 20th week. In 2016, the court had also allowed a 24-week pregnant rape victim in her 20s, also carrying a foetus with anencephaly, to terminate her pregnancy after an examination by the same expert panel.
The Supreme Court had asked the same committee of doctors from KEM Hospital that had given its opinion in the rape survivor’s case in July 2016, to look into the current case.

An amendment in 2014 to the MPT Act sought to increase the abortion time limit from 20 weeks to 24 weeks. Additionally, the draft bill also recommends that termination be allowed without a time limit in cases where doctors detect a foetal anomaly.

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