SC rejects plea of married woman to terminate 26-week old pregnancy

The Court said the cost of all medical procedure in he case would be borne by the State and the petitioner would have the choice to keep the child or give it up for adoption

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the plea of a married woman to terminate her 26-week-old foetus on the grounds that she was suffering from post-partum psychosis after her previous delivery a year ago.

A Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra said allowing the petitioner to terminate her pregnancy would violate Sections 3 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.

The Court said the cost of medical procedure in the case would be borne by the state and the petitioner would have the choice to keep the child or give it for adoption.

“Should the couple wish to give up the child for adoption the Centre will assist the parents. The choice to give the child up for adoption depends on the parents,” the court said.

When the case had originally come up before Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B V Nagarathna, they had allowed the woman to terminate her pregnancy.

However, when the medical report sought the court’s decision to stop the foetus’s heart, Justice Kohli said she was not willing to do so. Meanwhile, Justice Nagarathna said that she prioritised the woman’s decisional autonomy in matters of pregnancy. After this the matter was referred to the Chief Justice Bench.

The Bench asked: “What was she doing for 26 weeks? She had two earlier pregnancies.”

Under the Act, the limit for terminating pregnancy is 24 weeks for a married woman.