Supreme Court allows woman to terminate pregnancy

New Delhi: Taking note of a medical report that both kidneys of the 31-week-old fetus were not functioning, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed a woman to abort her pregnancy.

A bench of Justices A. K. Sikri, A.M. Sapre and Ashok Bhushan passed the order after perusing the report of the medical board of Mumbai-based JJ Hospital, where the woman was examined.

They said that continuation of pregnancy would cause further mental anguish to her.

According to a doctor’s opinion, the fetus has developed severe congenital problem and the kidneys were not functioning and the condition was not compatible to life after birth.

The medical report said, “We feel that at this stage termination of pregnancy is not going to be more hazardous than spontaneous delivery at term.”

“Considering poor prognosis of the baby, continuing pregnancy will cause more mental anguish to the mother,” the board said in its report submitted in the top court.

The bench in its brief order said, “The prayer made in the writ petition is allowed to the extent the petitioner (woman) is free to undergo medical termination of her pregnancy.”