New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday permitted a 14-year-old rape survivor to terminate her pregnancy, almost in its 30th week, terming it an “exceptional case”.
The top court’s verdict overruled a Bombay High Court order issued on 4 April, which refused medical termination of the foetus.
Allowing the abortion on the basis of a hospital report, a bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said that though undergoing abortion at this stage involved some risk, medical experts were of the opinion that the threat to life was not higher than the risk of full-term delivery. “We will allow the medical termination since she is 14 and it is a rape case and this is an exceptional case,” the CJI said.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 2021 allows abortion of pregnancy up to 20 weeks with the opinion of a registered medical practitioner, and up to 24 weeks in some cases. Beyond that upper limit, one has to approach the court.
The teenage girl’s mother had approached the apex court after the Bombay High Court turned down her request.
The bench comprising the CJI and Justice J.B. Pardiwala ordered another medical examination of the teenager. It also said the medical report the high court relied on had failed to assess her physical and mental condition after the sexual assault.
The designated medical board at a hospital in Sion, Mumbai favoured the abortion. Based on it, the Supreme Court allowed the termination by invoking Article 142 of the Constitution, which empowers it to pass an order needed to ensure justice in any case pending before it.
“The medical board at Sion has opined that continuation of pregnancy against the will of the minor may impact negatively on the physical and mental well-being of the minor… while some risk is involved, the medical board opined that threat to life is not higher than the risk of full-term delivery,” the Chief Justice of India said.
The top court also noted that the teenager was unaware of her pregnancy till very late. The court was informed that a rape case had been filed in this matter along with charges under the stringent POCSO law.
The justices then asked the Dean of Lokmanya Tilak Hospital in Mumbai to set up a team of doctors to terminate the pregnancy.
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This article does not provide any details about how this pregnancy will be “terminated.” At 30 weeks of pregnancy, we are not talking merely about a fetus, but likely an unborn child. Is it possible, for instance, that the child could be delivered by C-section, kept in an incubator, and then made a ward of the state? I realize that this is a bad situation with no easy solution, but to terminate a pregnancy in such an advanced stage without considering the fate of the unborn child doesn’t seem right.