Unambiguous provisions must be in place to deal with extraordinary instances
The recent case where the Supreme Court, on the advice of doctors, did not allow a 10-year girl who had been raped, from aborting a 32-week foetus, was noteworthy for several reasons. A 32-week foetus is a viable child but the ordeal for the child has not ended merely because of the court verdict. After all, the process of delivery remains fraught with danger for this unfortunate person. If however, this child's pregnancy had been found out earlier and she did not have to go through the laborious legal process for a late-term abortion which has been bizarrely answered by the Supreme Court, things could have been different. As a country, however, we are responsible for this crisis because our society's obsession with the male child has led to technologies being misused. Millions of girls did not live to see the light of day. Those problems will come home to roost soon enough, with millions of extra unmarried and probably unemployed young men. It was to prevent the wanton mass murder of unborn female children that the Government and the courts put restrictions to abortion in India in amendments to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act in 2002. This made abortion by an adult woman legal up to 20 weeks of pregnancy legal for all intents and purposes. Of course, this still comes with several riders. However, there has been a host of cases in the very recent past that has made it to the Supreme Court — and that in itself for an overburdened court, is both ridiculous and undesirable. With every day being critical in all of these cases, a better system has to be put in place to address the issue.
Abortions and other solutions of family planning should be available to all women, but late-term abortions are admittedly risky. Besides, because of the immense risk of misuse through female foeticide, which are being rightly prevented, one has to be careful in giving a freer hand in matters of law governing abortions. However, as we have learnt recently, very often younger girls who have been sexually assaulted, may not show signs of pregnancy till late. Often, even their parents do not get to know of the condition. There is also the ability with modern gene sequencing to find out conditions that could affect the life of the child with stunted physical and mental issues. But in these exceptional cases, the Ministry of Health and the higher judiciary should work together to establish medical panels across the country that can take prompt decisions in such cases. Younger victims of sexual assault should be given prompt care and a tragic situation like what has transpired recently, should not be allowed to rise. A 10 year old should not have to endure what this girl has suffered. Hopefully, the powers that be have also been impacted by this tragic situation and they will move to address the matter in the long-term interests of victims and society. We pray for the health of the girl and her child and hope that this story has a happy ending.