The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed a woman’s plea seeking termination of her over 23-week pregnancy after All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) endorsed the procedure in view of the complications associated with the birth of the baby.
A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan said in view of the report submitted by a team of medical experts at AIIMS, it was allowing the woman’s plea seeking termination of her pregnancy due to certain abnormalities in the foetus.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act stipulates a ceiling of 20 weeks for termination of pregnancy beyond which abortion of a foetus is statutorily impermissible.
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The counsel for the petitioner had stated that the abnormalities in the foetus was detected only after the 20th week of the pregnancy, forcing the woman to approach the court.
The counsel said the foetus suffered from “spina bifida and Arnold Chiari Syndrome defect”, which results in the spinal cord being outside the body. The counsel said that there was also deformation in the skull, defect in the heart which are co-morbidities attached to the main abnormalities.