The Bombay High Court on Friday allowed a woman to terminate her 30-week pregnancy at a private clinic in Nashik as the foetus has a critical and morbid condition.
A Division Bench of Justices Abhay Oka and A.S. Gadkari was hearing a plea filed by a 33-year-old woman stating that her foetus has developed “schizencephaly”, a morbid condition that shows up as disability.
She moved court to seek permission to terminate the pregnancy as it crossed the ceiling of 20 weeks under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. Her husband is a mobile network technician and they have a five-year-old son with Down’s Syndrome. She learnt about her condition after the Foetal Well-being Scan and an ultrasonography at Nashik.
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Her petition, filed by Advocate Kuldeep Nikam, said, “The family is already incurring a huge expenditure for his medical treatment and to provide him all the best possible facilities. If the second child of the petitioner carries the same medical problem, it would also cause a great financial burden on the woman and her family, apart from the mental and physical hardship.”
On September 20, the court directed J.J. Hospital to form a board to learn about the woman’s condition. The report said the foetus has an abnormality and can be terminated.
On Friday, the court allowed the pregnancy to be terminated, however the lady sought for it to be done at a private clinic in Nashik. The government pleader opposed the same saying, abortions can take place only at government clinics or hospitals and that the State is in the process of completing the registration of private clinics for abortions
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The court interrupted and said, why should the lady suffer if the government has not completed the process.