SC nod to abort on week 24 on health grounds

‘No point... since foetus won’t survive’

AFTER A month spent chasing various doctors for an abortion, the Supreme Court’s verdict on Monday granting permission to terminate her pregnancy in the 24th week of gestation came as a great relief for Meera Pal and her husband, Santosh, based in Mumbai suburb Dombivali.

The Supreme Court bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao allowed Meera, 22, to terminate her pregnancy while taking into consideration the report of a medical board of KEM Hospital in Mumbai. The panel of doctors at the governmentrun hospital had found foetal skull growth and brain tissue development absent. In such cases, babies can only survive in-utero.

“We consider it appropriate and in the interest of justice, particularly the right of the petitioner to preserve her life by permitting her to undergo the termination of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act,” the bench said.

Referring to the report of the seven-member medical board, the bench said, “The medical evidence clearly suggests that there is no point in allowing the petitioner to run in full course since the foetus would not be able to survive outside the uterus without a skull.”

This is the second such case where the Supreme Court has given permission for an abortion beyond 20 weeks by granting benefit under Section 5 of MTP Act. In July 2016, a rape victim was permitted to undergo abortion in the 24th week.

On Tuesday, as directed by the apex court, Meera will be admitted in KEM Hospital for an abortion.

A relieved Santosh, 38, a computer typist who works at Fort, in south Mumbai, said, “The family was under a lot of stress about my wife’s condition. When we first learnt about this, we immediately told the nursing home to abort but they said it is illegal. The last few days have been difficult on us.”

Married a year ago, Meera, 22, conceived last year.

According to Santosh, his wife underwent regular checkups at Dombivali-based Shubhda Nursing Home. Until then, he said, doctors did not diagnose anything life-threatening.

On December 19, the gynaecologist at the nursing home informed them about the foetus’ brain anomaly. But having already entered the 21st week of pregnancy, Meera could not undergo abortion. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, caps the limit of abortion at 20 weeks of gestation.

“It was Christmas and then New Year, and our case kept getting delayed,” Santosh said. Admitting that the family was worried — “what if the verdict went against us, or it got too late to abort?” — he said, “The law needs to be patient-friendly, at least in exceptional cases.”

Dr Pikale said awareness about certain mandatory diagnostic tests is also important to prevent such situations.