Bombay high court allows abortion of 30-wk foetus
which mandated that MTPs be performed only at government hospitals or hospitals and clinics recognised by the state for the same.
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Friday permitted a pregnant woman (33) from Nashik to medically terminate her pregnancy as a test revealed that the foetus had a rare developmental birth defect.
The court also granted the woman’s request to undergo an abortion at a private clinic in Nashik where she had been undergoing treatment and consultation for the last few months.
A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice M.S. Sonak was hearing a plea filed by the woman who is 30 weeks’ pregnant and has a five-year-old son diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome.
She and her husband last week approached the HC, seeking permission for medical termination of her pregnancy, saying that the couple was already caring for a differently-abled child and forcing them to continue with her pregnancy would cause them much physical and emotional trauma.
Her plea for undergoing an abortion at the Nashik clinic, however, was opposed by the state government, which referred to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, which mandated that MTPs be performed only at government hospitals or hospitals and clinics recognised by the state for the same.