Single Woman's Request To Terminate 28-Week Pregnancy Rejected By Delhi High Court
Holding that the foetus was "completely viable" and "foeticide cannot be permitted," the Delhi High Court denied a 20-year-old unmarried woman permission to terminate her 28-week pregnancy on Thursday.
A baby may be aborted up to 24 weeks during the pregnancy according to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. With the approval of a medical board, termination may be carried if there are serious foetal abnormalities.
“This court is not going to permit termination of pregnancy at 28 weeks. I am not going to allow it for a completely viable foetus of 28 weeks. In the report, I can’t see any abnormality in the foetus. Foeticide cannot be permitted,” the judge said.
The lady claimed in her appeal that she and her partner were in a mutually agreeable relationship and that she had just recently learned she was pregnant. The woman's advocate, Amit Mishra, said that she found out about it on January 25th, at 27 weeks into pregnancy.
According to the lawyer, the patient sought medical advice to end the pregnancy since she was not in the right condition to bear the child. However, the physicians denied her request because the pregnancy had progressed past the 24-week mark, as mandated by the MTP Act.
The attorney argued that her case should be examined for MTP since no one in her family was aware of her pregnancy and because she was single.
He urged the court to order a medical examination of the pregnant lady by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi to determine her emotional and physical well-being and the status of the unborn child.
In spite of this, the court declined to take into account the petition.