Maharashtra / Mumbai : Relationship with protection, an unmarried woman who became pregnant, did not want a child, so the court reached
In an unusual and conditional order, the Bombay High Court has allowed a woman to terminate her 26-week pregnancy medically only if the doctor confirms that the baby cannot be born alive after the procedure. The bench, while hearing the woman’s plea on Friday, directed, “If the doctors are of the opinion that the child cannot be born alive at the time of termination of the pregnancy, the petitioner is permitted to terminate the pregnancy.” (21) ) had moved the High Court, as her case does not fall under the category of women eligible under the MTP (Amendment), 2021 [Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021] for 20 to 24 weeks. Her pregnancy was caused by a consensual relationship with her partner and the failure of a contraceptive device. A September 8 report of the Medical Board of JJ Hospital said that no abnormality was found in the fetus or the body of the pregnant woman.
According to the report published in The Times of India, a September 8 report of the Medical Board of JJ Hospital states that no abnormalities have been found in the fetus or the body of the pregnant woman. The medical board in its report said that the pregnancy is around 26 weeks and at this stage a baby born prematurely as a result of MTP will require intensive care management. The High Court, on September 13, directed the Medical Board to re-examine the pregnancy duration of the woman. In fact, in view of the discrepancy between the sonography report and the medical board’s opinion, the Bombay High Court asked the matter to be re-examined. The medical board again sent its report to the court on 15 September and was told that the woman was 25.4 weeks pregnant. The same thing was said in the first report as well.
Unmarried woman who became pregnant due to failure of contraceptive device
But the woman’s counsel Aditi Saxena cited the clarification of the law (MTP Act) where termination of pregnancies due to a contraceptive device or failure of the method is permitted. He argued that the medical board was expected to consider only the pain caused to the woman due to such pregnancy, and no more. A bench of Justices Sanjay Gangapurwala and RM Laddha said that they will certainly, without hesitation, allow MTP. Because it happened due to failure of contraceptive device and the petitioner is an unmarried mother who had consensual relationship with her partner. The bench said that it is only concerned that the Medical Board in its report has said that this MTP will result in premature birth of a child.
The court said that the child who is born has to be taken care of and it should not happen that due to premature birth, he becomes a victim of any physical deformity. The judges said that if the doctors say that the child will not be born alive, then we have no problem in allowing MTP. will have to bear. At the same time, the fact also cannot be ignored that there is a possibility of a live baby being born. If the pregnancy is terminated prematurely, it can have an adverse effect on the child born.
