Must protect both foetus, mom: SC in abortion case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down a request by a 26-year-old woman seeking permission to abort her 32-week pregnancy, citing mental trauma and depression after the death of her husband.

- Abraham Thomas

The top court held that courts have a duty to take care of the interests of both, a mother and an unborn child, an observation that came after a medical board from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which examined the petitioner, said that an abortion at this stage would endanger the woman's health and cause the foetus to be born alive but with the likelihood of severe disabilities.

The order strikes at the heart of the complicated question around abortion and its timing. The law allows pregnancies to be terminated on the advice of a doctor up till 24 weeks of a pregnancy, but cases that have surpassed this gestation period have also been accepted by courts, especially when there is likelihood of severe harm to the mother.

Advocate Rahul Sharma, the petitioner's lawyer, had said: "We should think about the mother and not the unborn foetus. She is a widow and she does not want to live with this trauma. This pregnancy is against her choice and wish that will cause further trauma."