Supreme Court allows woman to abort 26-week-old foetus without skull
The bench noted that continuing with the pregnancy would cause mental agony to the mother.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a woman in Mumbai who is 26 weeks pregnant to have an abortion as her foetus suffers a life-threatening condition, PTI reported. According to medical tests, the foetus had anencephaly – a condition where the baby is born without parts of the skull.
A medical report prepared by a board of Sir JJ Hospital in Mumbai had said that the foetus was not likely to survive the pregnancy, and it would also cause mental agony to the petitioner.
The bench, comprising justices SA Bobde and L Nageswara Rao, said the foetus was not compatible with life. “We consider it appropriate in the interest of justice and particularly, to permit the petitioner woman to undergo medical termination of her pregnancy under the provisions of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971,” the apex court said.
Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, abortion is legal in India only up to 20 weeks of pregnancy if continuing it will cause harm to the mother or the child.