SC refers to a medical board for a woman seeking to abort her 23-week pregnancy

The Apex Court in a recent case sought the Centre's response to a petition filed by a Kolkata-based pregnant woman who challenged the validity of Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act which prohibits termination of pregnancy after the expiry of the 20-week period. The petition also challenges the scope of Section 5 of the Act on the ground that it is narrow and literal interpretation, particularly limited to the phrase, “ the termination of such pregnancy is immediately necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman” . The petitioner contends that this Act may have been relevant in 1971 but with the advancement in technology it is perfectly safe to terminate the pregnancy even in the 26th week of pregnancy.

This Kolkata based woman has previously suffered a lot of miscarriages. When she got her unborn baby's condition tested by Bengaluru and Mumbai medical experts both claimed that the child suffers from a cardiac ailment which may not be cured even after multiple surgeries. They also pointed that the child's quality of life could be so poor that it would be extremely traumatic for the parents. The gynecologist who examined the woman's medical reports asserted that the woman should be allowed to terminate the pregnancy as the child will suffer from an untreatable disease.

Dr. Devi Shetty, a renowned cardiac surgeon and Padma Bhushan awardee who has also gone through her reports claimed that there is no reason why an abortion can't be done after 20 weeks of pregnancy since the risk involved is the same. In fact, countries like UK and China allow termination of pregnancy even after 24 and 28 weeks respectively. It can't be the case that these countries are not bothered about the condition of their women.

In a scenario, where the amendment to the Act is pending before the parliament the court will seek reference by the expert medical board.