The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a woman to forthwith abort her 26-week old foetus suffering from a rare heart ailment. The order is exceptional since the law provided under Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 does not permit abortion of a foetus beyond 20 weeks.
Deciding the case in favour of the aggrieved parents hailing from Kolkata, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and AM Khanwilkar directed the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata to "forthwith" abort the pregnancy. The Court had constituted a Medical Board of seven doctors from the SSKM Hospital to examine the woman in question and advise whether there was any threat to the life of the mother or foetus if pregnancy is allowed to continue.
The Board gave an opinion supporting abortion as the heart condition of the foetus was so severe that it would require seven to eight multiple cardiac surgeries if born alive. Moreover, the team of doctors had advised that the pregnancy would cause serious "mental injury" to the mother as well.
"Keeping in view the report of the Medical Board, we are inclined to allow the prayer and direct medical termination of pregnancy of petitioner no. 1 (woman)," the bench said.
The foetus suffered from a rare heart disorder known as Tetrology of Fallot, a combination of four impairments in the heart. The petitioner woman and her husband told the Court that the abnormality was detected in May this year while conducting a foetal echocardiography. Realizing that the foetus could not be aborted as it was over 20-week old, the duo filed a petition challenging the constitutional validity of section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.
The matter was heard during the Vacation Bench of the apex court on two occasions and was posted on the first day of reopening for passing orders. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who appeared for the aggrieved couple, argued that a restriction on abortion has ceased to be reasonable as advanced technology is available that can detect hidden abnormalities in a foetus. Such abnormality, he said, in many cases can only be detected after the 20th week of pregnancy and the ceiling provided under the law is artificially low.