The medical fraternity is mulling amendments to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act that allows abortions only up to 20 weeks after a woman was forced to give birth to a baby with severe spine and brain malformations when the Supreme Court rejected her abortion plea. Doctors say hundreds of such babies live with disorders while some parents resort to illegal abortions as the law leaves them with no alternative.
Dr. Nikhil Datar, a gynaecologist, said, “Many parents don’t even take the legal route. We only know of cases that have been directed to the court, but there are so many couples who simply have no choice but to give birth because they have crossed the 20-week deadline. Others simply get the abortion done underground.” Dr. Datar was the first doctor to approach the Supreme Court in 2008 when Niketa Mehta, a 24-week pregnant woman wanted an abortion due to a foetal anomaly. The case was rejected but Ms. Mehta had a miscarriage.
In the past two weeks, Dr Datar. has been referred with four cases of foetal anomalies, with the women more than 20 weeks pregnant. While three have ‘lost to follow up’, Dr. Datar is preparing the fourth one for a court case. Doctors say that ‘lost to follow up’ in most cases mean that the family has opted for an illegal route.
In March, the plea of a woman from Alibaug with 26-week-old foetus with Down Syndrome was rejected. The same month, plea of a woman from Diva, Sarika Ghatge (name changed), to allow her to abort her 27-week-old foetus with Arnold Chiari type II syndrome was also rejected. On Tuesday, The Hindu had reported that the Ms. Ghatge had given birth to a baby boy with severe malformations at KEM Hospital in Parel. The parents have refused to take the baby home and have demanded that he should be given up for adoption.
Dr. Ashok Anand, a gynaecologist at the State-run JJ Hospital, said, “What can parents do in such a tricky situation? In many cases, the parents are poor or from the middle class. They have few resources to take care of their daily needs or sudden medical expenses. How will they take care of a baby with severe medical ailments?” Dr. Anand said, “Most women who come for abortions beyond 20 weeks are lost to follow up.” In a majority of such cases, women undergo illegal abortions. Public hospitals also get several cases of abandoned babies, some of them due to deformities, delivered by single mothers or those who could not undergo an abortion.
Poor prenatal care?
While diagnosis is delayed in some cases due to lack of awareness among parents, poor prenatal care facilities are blamed in some other cases. Dr. Nandita Palshetkar, gynecologist and IVF expert, said, “Most anomalies can be detected early. But in our country, there is a wide gap between the patient and the facilities available to them. We therefore should have a law that suits us.” A draft amendment of 2014 to the MTP Act that extends the abortion limit to 24 weeks and allows abortion at any time of pregnancy in cases of severe fetal anomaly, is yet to pass muster in Parliament. Dr. Palshetkar said, “I have seen babies who have undergone four to five surgeries when they were just three months’ old. The emotional and financial turmoil that it causes to the parents cannot be explained.”
Ms Ghatge’s husband Hemant said, “After all the efforts that the doctors are putting, will my baby have a normal life?” Babies with chiari malformations may live with paraplegia, lack of bowel and bladder control and other disabilities.
