By Dave Andrusko
In a stunning ruling delivered Thursday, the Bombay High Court not only authorized a woman to abort at 25 weeks but also “granted her liberty to move the state to take care of the child if delivered alive during the procedure,” according to Rosy Sequeira, reporting for the Times of India.
In theory, under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act [MTP], abortions past 20 weeks are rare. They have become more common.
As recently as ten days ago, that same court refused a woman’s request for an abortion at approximately 26 weeks. According to Outlook India, the 38-year-old woman cited her age and “unpreparedness for the pregnancy.” She had also
cited several previous judgments of Bombay HC and the Supreme Court where women were permitted to terminate pregnancies even after the 20-week limit on account of their mental wellbeing.
However, Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and RI Chagla wrote
such permissions were granted in specific cases where the courts felt that continuing such pregnancy could cause lifelong mental anguish to a petitioner, or it could harm the welfare of the child to be born.
What was different this time? The woman is 28, and the decision was delivered by different justices– Ramesh Dhanuka and V G Bisht—for starters.
The child has been diagnosed with spina bifida (where the baby’s spinal cord fails to develop or close properly while in the womb) and Arnold Chiari type 2 malformation, a further complication in which brain tissue extends into the spinal canal.
The woman petitioned the High Court for an abortion, according to Sequeira, and the JJ hospital set up a medical board to determine whether the woman “qualified” for an abortion. The board
said MTP may be permitted, but requested the court “to instruct the parents to bear responsibility of the child and the required neonatal management if born alive.”
The unidentified woman’s advocate cited her 5-year-old son and that “it”—a born-alive baby—“would also gravely injure her mental health” as reasons the state should pay for the rearing of the baby.
According to the Times of India, there have two other judgments by the High Court addressing what happens if the baby survives an abortion. “Allowing MTP, the court had held that if the parents are unable to take care of the child, the state has to bear the responsibility. ” That what justices Dhanuka and Bisht concluded.
Sequeira ended story with a quote from one of the justices.
“We don’t know what will happen after the procedure[the abortion],” said Justice Dhanuka. “If any such representation is made, it will be decided in accordance with the law,” they said, and directed that she remain present at J J Hospital for the procedure.
