Anomalies in foetuses emerge, focus shifts to abortion law

Women seeking abortion stirs debate on necessity of legal recourse just because they have crossed 20-week limit

July 11, 2017 12:49 am | Updated 12:49 am IST

Mumbai: Amidst the debate about unjust abortion laws triggered by the birth of an anomalous baby boy in a Mumbai hospital, a new case of an unwed pregnant woman seeking medical termination of pregnancy has put the treating doctor in a dilemma.

The young woman is in her 19th week of pregnancy and suffers from thyrotoxicosis, a condition that occurs due to excessive thyroid hormone, due to which an abortion can be a severe risk for her. But by the time her thyroid condition is controlled, she will cross the 20-week limit for abortion that is mandated by law.

“It is a tricky situation for me. I can put her life at risk and terminate or she can continue with the pregnancy. And then there is the option of approaching the Supreme Court just like in the past so many cases after she crosses 20 weeks,” said gynaecologist Dr. Nikhil Datar. “The question remains if the Indian women deserve such an ordeal.”

According to Dr. Datar, in the past one week, as many as five doctors have reached out to him from across the country with cases of women seeking abortion for foetal anomalies and have to seek legal recourse because they have crossed the 20-week limit.

Last week, the debate to extend the abortion limit intensified after a woman whose abortion plea was rejected by the SC gave birth to a boy suffering from arnold chiari type II syndrome wherein the spine and brain are malformed. Given that no medical intervention could help the baby, he was discharged two days ago. The parents, however, are extremely upset with the developments. “The doctors asked us to take the baby home as a surgery won’t make any difference. I wish the court had understood the trauma of seeing the child like this,” said the father of the newborn.

Babies born with such malformations may live with paraplegia, lack of bowel and bladder control and other disabilities. While timely intervention helps to a certain extent, in cases where the babies have meningocele (fluid filled sac protruding from the spinal cord) or hydrocephalus (fluid accumulation in the brain), they live with permanent disabilities.

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