SC denies abortion plea, sticks to letter of the law

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down the plea of a married woman seeking immediate termination of her 27-week pregnancy, relying on her latest medical report which indicated that there were no foetal abnormalities, nor was the health of the 27-year-old mother of two at risk, to let her end her pregnancy beyond the cut-off period fixed under law. It said that the court is "averse" to passing a direction for stopping a foetal heartbeat at this stage.

- Utkarsh Anand

The 2021 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act permits abortion beyond 24 weeks only in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities, or when there are serious threats to the pregnant woman's life or well-being. The woman approached the court earlier this month, saying she was unaware of her third pregnancy due to a disorder called lactational amenorrhea, which prevents a patient from menstruating, and suffered from postpartum depression and poor financial conditions.

Drawing the curtains on a case that witnessed two women judges on a previous bench delivering a split verdict in less than 48 hours after they unanimously allowed abortion; and finally, a refusal by the larger bench after a week, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud went by the letter of the law to state that the termination of pregnancy after 24 weeks cannot be allowed in the given facts of the case.

"Under Article 142 of the Constitution, this court has the power to do complete justice. However, this power may not be attracted in every case. If a medical termination were to be conducted at this stage, the doctors would be faced with a viable foetus. One of the options before this Court, which the email from AIIMS has flagged, is for it to direct the doctors to stop the heartbeat. This Court is averse to issuing a direc of this nature," the bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said in its order.

It further noted that the petitioner also did not want the foetal heart to be stopped, which would mean a pre-term delivery of the viable foetus with a significant risk of lifelong physical and mental disabilities. "For these reasons, we do not accede to the prayer for the medical termination of the pregnancy," it held.