The High Court of Karnataka on Monday permitted a 29-year-old woman’s plea seeking permission to terminate her 21-week pregnancy as certain crucial organs in the lower abdomen and spine of the foetus had not developed properly due to which the child would be severely handicapped after birth.
Justice B. Veerappa passed the order after the medical board, which was constituted by the government-run Vanivilas Hospital, Bengaluru, which examined her as per the court’s direction, gave an opinion that her plea for termination of pregnancy could be considered under the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.
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She had moved the court as the Act bars doctors from terminating pregnancy beyond 20 weeks.
The court also permitted her to undergo the termination process at a private hospital, the name of which she had indicated in her petition while directing the doctors, who will supervise the termination process, to take necessary medical care.
