SC denies abortion to woman with foetal abnormality

A 25-YEAR-OLD woman who approached the Supreme Court to undergo an abortion was denied permission on Monday despite being diagnosed with a foetal abnormality.

The woman, whose medical reports from Parel’s KEM Hospital showed she had reached advanced gestation in the 27th week of her pregnancy, risks a chance of a live birth during medical termination of the pregnancy, the hospital report concluded.

The Supreme Court bench of Justices S A Bobdey and L Nageshwara Rao denied the permission for abortion after going through the medical report.

The report submitted by Parel’s KEM Hospital said the Kandivali resident’s foetus suffered from Arnold Chiari Syndrome Type 2 that could lead to an under-developed brain and a distorted spine. This is the Kandivali resident’s first pregnancy and she was visiting the Kandivali Shatabdi Hospital for consultation.

According to a doctor who knew about the case, the woman underwent her first sonography in the 15th week, when the defect was not diagnosed. During her second sonography in the 24th week, the deformity was diagnosed. By then, it was too late for her to undergo medical termination of the pregnancy.

According to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, a woman can undergo abortion legally before 20 weeks of the gestation period. In certain cases, however, deformities are diagnosed after this period.

“She is a victim of system failure. It is the socio-economic poor patients like her who need help and the system fails them the most,” said Dr Nikhil Datar, gynaecologist who advised her to take legal course after the diagnosis.

The woman’s hearing allegedly got delayed because of the Holi vacation. By the time the KEM report came, she had entered the 27th week of her gestation period. The woman will now have to complete the full pregnancy period and give birth to the baby.