Can’t compel woman to complete pregnancy: SC

Directing medical termination of a 30-week pregnancy of a 17-year-old, the Supreme Court on Friday said that courts cannot compel a woman, much less a minor, to continue a pregnancy. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that the girl had become pregnant while being in a relationship and sought to medically terminate her pregnancy.

The bench asked Mumbai’s JJ Hospital to undertake the medical termination of the pregnancy of the minor while ensuring that all necessary medical safeguards are followed. It observed that the court had considered the fact that the right of the minor child to continue the pregnancy, which, on the face of it, was “illegitimate” as she herself was a minor and was facing the pregnancy due to an unfortunate situation. It said the issue was not whether the relationship was consensual or the result of sexual assault.The SC noted the report of the medical board of the hospital that there was no threat to the life of the child and the mother .

“If the interest of the mother is to be taken note of, then her reproductive autonomy must be given sufficient emphasis. The court cannot compel any woman, much less a minor child, to complete her pregnancy if she is otherwise not intending to do so,” the bench said. “There is another question; if she can terminate the pregnancy at 24 weeks, then why not at 30 weeks? Ultimately, she doesn’t want to continue the pregnancy. Bottom line is she doesn’t want to give birth, that is the difficulty,” the bench observed.

Counsel appearing for the Maharashtra Government submitted that according to medical reports, even if the child is allowed to be born today, the child is going to be alive and one of the views of the high court was that the baby can be given to an orphanage if the mother does not want to keep it.The top court said it will release the operating part of the order for the benefit of the hospital and the detailed order will follow.