The Delhi High Court on Monday granted permission to a woman to terminate her 28-week pregnancy after AIIMS medical board said her foetus can be aborted as it suffered from anencephaly, a condition where the skull bone is not formed.
A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh permitted the medical termination of the woman’s pregnancy based on the board’s report and disposed of her plea.
On January 7, the court had asked AIIMS to constitute a medical board to examine the woman and give a report on the feasibility of terminating her pregnancy.
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The woman stated that an ultrasonography at the gestational age of 27 weeks 5 days found that the foetus suffered from anencephaly, making it incompatible with life.
In India, 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.
The woman contended that determination of foetal abnormality in many cases can only be done after the 20th week and by keeping the ceiling artificially low, women who obtain reports of serious foetal abnormality after the 20th week have to suffer excruciating pain and agony because of the deliveries that they are forced to go through.
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“The ceiling of 20 weeks is therefore, arbitrary, harsh, discriminatory and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.” her petition had claimed.