The Centre and the Maharashtra Government will today respond to a plea challenging the validity of India’s abortion laws.The Supreme Court yesterday issued notices to both the Centre and state government on the petition filed by a woman, who is presently in the 24th week of her pregnancy.
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This provision, as it now stands, does not allow for an abortion after a period of twenty weeks unless there is a threat to the life of the mother. The male judge presiding over her case said there was no question of allowing an abortion as the seven-month foetus had a high chance of survival, going on to say, “I know the pain, agony and stigma in this case…”
The move came after apex court heard a plea challenging the validity of abortion laws in India after a petition was filed against the law which now doesn’t permit an abortion after twenty weeks of pregnancy.
Supreme Court seeks response from Centre and Maharashtra on plea for termination of pregnancy. The girl, a rape survivor, was in the 24th week of her pregnancy, and doctors stated in a report that the girl was “psychologically devastated” and “physically too weak to deliver a child”.
The apex court is already hearing plea of Mumbai-based doctor Nikhil D Datar who had also raised the same issue in 2009 and sought an amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. In her case, the abnormality was revealed after the legally permissible period for abortion, she said.
The bench said it would set up a medical board to examine the woman and submit a report, depending on the stand taken by the two governments.
The ceiling of 20 weeks is therefore arbitrary and discriminatory and violative of Articles 14 and 21.
“Illegal abortions are the third leading cause of maternal death in India and account for 13% of maternal deaths worldwide”, she said.
She said countries like Albania, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Israel, Nepal, Netherlands, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the U.S. “do not include absolute time limits in their abortion laws”.
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Belonging to a poor background, the woman’s physical and mental health were at risk now.
