SC Rejects Proposal to Terminate Pregnancy Beyond 26 Weeks

The (SC) Supreme Court’s decision hinged on a medical report from AIIMS affirming the absence of abnormalities in the child.

The SC dismissed the appeal of a married woman seeking a 26-week pregnancy termination, citing an All India Institute of Medical Sciences report indicating the child’s health.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated that terminating the pregnancy at 26 weeks and 5 days would violate Sections 3 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act because there is no immediate risk to the mother, and it does not involve a fetal abnormality.

“We cannot stop the heartbeat,” the Chief Justice said.

Under the MTP Act, the upper limit for termination of pregnancy is 24 weeks for married women, including survivors of rape, and other vulnerable women such as the differently-abled and minors.

In the previous court session, the petitioner had sought legal authorization to terminate the child. A mother of two, she cited depression and her inability to support a third child, both emotionally and financially.

On October 9, the court had allowed her to proceed with the pregnancy. The centre then sought a recall of the order, citing the advice of a panel of doctors at AIIMS Delhi against the abortion.

A two-judge bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice BV Nagarathna earlier gave a split verdict in the matter. Following this, the Chief Justice of India-led bench took up the matter.

It had questioned why the woman did not seek permission for abortion earlier. “What was she doing for 26 weeks? She already has two children? Why come now? Do we issue an order for the child’s death through a judicial ruling?” Chief Justice Chandrachud had said.

The centre’s lawyer said the petitioner cited a court ruling in a rape survivor’s plea for permission to abort. “She (petitioner) is no rape survivor. She is not a minor. What was she doing for 26 weeks?”

The Chief Justice of India had stressed that the baby was not represented in the matter. “We have to look into the rights of the unborn child,” he had said.

The SC had said one option was to let the child be born, and the government can then look after it. The court underlined that a hasty delivery at this point may lead to deformities in the foetus. “If the child is born with deformities now, no one will want to adopt,” the Chief Justice had said.

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