The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted two minor rape survivors to medically terminate their pregnancies on the advice of the medical boards which examined them.
The victims, a 13-year-old girl from Delhi and a 17-year-old from Bengaluru, had separately approached the apex court for permission to abort their pregnancies. They had both passed the 20th week of pregnancy, until which the law allows abortion.
The 13-year-old was examined by a board of doctors from AIIMS, while the court ordered a medical team from the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute to examine the other victim. Both medical teams had given opinions in favour of medical termination of the pregnancies. The 13-year-old was in her 23rd week of pregnancy and the Bengaluru-based victim in her 24th week.
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The Bench, comprising Justices Amitava Roy and A.M. Khanwilkar, directed preservation of the terminated foetus for DNA sampling during the investigation in both the cases.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 does not allow abortion if the pregnancy has crossed 20 weeks. Under the 1971 law, an exception to the 20-week cap is made if a registered medical practitioner certifies to a court that the continued pregnancy is life-threatening for either the mother or the baby. This was meant to be a safeguard against female foeticide.
The court had recently denied permission to a 10-year-old rape survivor from Chandigarh to abort her foetus. Shortly after the court’s denial, the girl gave birth. The apex court awarded ₹10 lakh compensation for the girl.
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Recently, the Centre had written to States and Union Territories about the apex court’s suggestion to appoint permanent medical boards to provide rape survivors urgent access to medical care.