The Bombay High Court on Monday allowed medical termination of a nearly 26-week pregnancy where the fetus was detected with microcephaly, a condition of abnormal smallness of the head. Justice Ramesh Dhanuka and Justice Girish Kulkarni allowed the petition by a married woman who had moved HC when she was over 24 weeks pregnant, as the law does not permit MTP beyond 24 weeks.
She submitted reports of a diagnostic centre and Jaslok Hospital that indicated that microcephaly is an evolving fetal abnormality and neurological development of the baby can be affected. A medical board of J J Hospital, set up by a coordinate bench, on May 26 opined that it is a "fit case" for MTP.
The judges cited a SC judgment from September 2022 holding that reproductive autonomy requires that every pregnant woman has the intrinsic right to choose to undergo or not to undergo abortion without any consent from a third party.
"In the aforesaid circumstances, we are of the opinion that this is a fit case where we ought to permit the petitioner to undergo medical termination of pregnancy accepting the opinion of the medical board of the Sir J J Hospital as constituted by this (high) court," they added.On the request of the woman's advocate for the procedure to be done at Jaslok Hospital, the judges permitted the same.
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