SC allows termination of 24-week-old foetus of Mumbai woman

The Apex Court on Tuesday allowed a Mumbai woman to abort her 24-week-old foetus as an exception under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971.

The judgment came after Mumbai's KEM Hospital medical board report stated that 24-week-old foetus had no kidneys and would most likely die after birth. The hospital board further said in its reports that continuation of pregnancy would endanger mother's life.

The woman approached the court, while she was in her 21st week of pregnancy, after the foetal growth irregularity termed as bilateral renal agenesis was diagnosed. This means absence or failure of both kidneys in body.

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.