Supreme Court prohibits woman to terminate 27-week foetus
March 28, 2017In another case related to abortion, the Supreme Court has refused permission to a woman to abort her 27 week old foetus showing signs of severe physical abnormalities.
A bench consisting of Justices S A Bobdey and L Nageshwara Rao referred to the medical board report, which has examined the woman, and said that as per the opinion of the doctors the baby has high chances of being born alive, if the mother is allowed to abort at this stage.
As per the doctors' opinion the physical condition of the woman is normal and there is no risk to her health. The apex court took this into its notice.
The bench observed that, "As regard to the foetus, the report states that, if the pregnancy is terminated in the 27th week, there is a possibility that the baby may be born alive."
"We don't consider it appropriate to direct the petitioner (woman) to terminate the foetus," the apex court said.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the bench that as per the report of the medical board of the Mumbai-based KEM Hospital, the foetus has severe physical abnormalities but the doctors have not advised termination as she is in her 27th week of pregnancy.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act prohibits termination of pregnancy after 20 weeks even if there is a fatal risk to the mother and the foetus.
A bench consisting of Justices S A Bobdey and L Nageshwara Rao referred to the medical board report, which has examined the woman, and said that as per the opinion of the doctors the baby has high chances of being born alive, if the mother is allowed to abort at this stage.
As per the doctors' opinion the physical condition of the woman is normal and there is no risk to her health. The apex court took this into its notice.
The bench observed that, "As regard to the foetus, the report states that, if the pregnancy is terminated in the 27th week, there is a possibility that the baby may be born alive."
"We don't consider it appropriate to direct the petitioner (woman) to terminate the foetus," the apex court said.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the bench that as per the report of the medical board of the Mumbai-based KEM Hospital, the foetus has severe physical abnormalities but the doctors have not advised termination as she is in her 27th week of pregnancy.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act prohibits termination of pregnancy after 20 weeks even if there is a fatal risk to the mother and the foetus.
OUR TAKE
The decision of the SC to deny the abortion for the termination of the foetus is completely justified. The medical report submitted by team of expert doctors of the Medical Board, assure that there is no harm to life of the child or his mother. In such a scenario, allowing for abortion is not legitimate. The SC had earlier given a decision otherwise only because it was an exceptional circumstance.
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