The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a 22-year-old woman to terminate her 24-week foetus as it had no skull.
The woman, belonging to Mumbai had approached the apex court with a request to terminate her pregnancy as a special case considering the law in this field which prevents termination of foetus beyond 20 weeks. A report by the Medical Board of Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial Hospital suggested that both the baby and the mother were at risk since a baby without skull cannot survive.
Acknowledging the report, a bench of Justices SA Bobde and l Nageswara Rao allowed the woman’s request to terminate her pregnancy. It said, “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 foetus will be removed by a team of doctors of the KEM hospital, ordered the Court while asking the hospital authorities to maintain a complete record of the procedure adopted in the process. This is not the first time the Court has permitted termination of foetus as an extraordinary situation. In July 2016, the Court had allowed another woman from Mumbai to terminate her pregnancy after medical examination of the foetus revealed absence of skull and all vital internal organs (liver, intestine, stomach) being present outside abdomen in the amniotic cavity.
The present case too presented a similar challenge to a seven-member medical board. The team of doctors found through ultasonography that there was no chance of survival of foetus as brain tissue was found floating in the amniotic fluid. “There is no point to allow the petitioner run the full course since the foetus will not be able to survive outside the uterus without a skull,” the Board held. The Court also took into account the “grave danger” to the woman’s physical and mental health and allowed the request by the woman, who was supported by her husband.