In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a Mumbai woman to terminate her 24-week-old foetus after doctors reported that it was deformed and might pose a risk to the mother’s life.
The ruling of the apex court was based on the medical board report submitted by the Mumbai KEM Hospital stating that the foetus was malformed and continuation of pregnancy would endanger mother’s life.
This is the second such case this year where the Supreme Court has allowed an exception under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971. The Act states the conditions under which a pregnancy can be ended or aborted, the persons who are qualified to conduct the abortion and the place of implementation. Women whose physical and/or mental healths were endangered by the pregnancy, women facing the birth of a potentially handicapped or malformed child are some of these qualifications.
The woman learnt about her malformed foetus, when she was in her 21st week of pregnancy. The diagnosis report stated that there was absence or failure of both kidneys in body, which may lead to further abnormalities as deficiency in amniotic fluid that may result into malformations in a baby.
Doctors also advised that a baby with this anomaly cannot survive for more than four hours after birth.
Earlier, a 22-year-old Thane woman was allowed to undergo abortion after the Supreme Court observed that the foetus suffered from anencephaly, a life threatening condition in which the skull is not fully developed.
(With PTI Inputs)
