HC rejects 20-year-old unmarried woman’s request to abort ‘fully viable’ fetus at 28 weeks

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said “feticide cannot be permitted” and reserved judgment on a 20-year-old unmarried woman’s plea seeking permission to terminate her 28-week pregnancy, holding that the fetus was “completely viable”.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Bill allows abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. If there are serious abnormalities in the fetus, the pregnancy can be terminated even after 24 weeks with the permission of the Medical Council.

“This court will not allow termination of pregnancy at 28 weeks. I will not allow full viability of the fetus at 28 weeks. In the report, I do not see any abnormality in the fetus. Abortion will not be allowed,” the judge said orally before reserving the verdict.

In her plea, the woman said she was in a consensual relationship and had only recently learned she was pregnant. Amit Mishra, a lawyer representing the woman, said she learned of the incident on January 25, when she was 27 weeks pregnant.

The lawyer said that because she was not qualified to have a child, she consulted a doctor to terminate the pregnancy, but the doctor refused because it exceeded the 24 weeks allowed by the Medium-term Plan Act.

The lawyer said no one in her family knew about her pregnancy and since she was unmarried, her case should be considered for MTP.

He urged the court to direct the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi to conduct a medical examination of the woman to ascertain her mental and physical condition and the condition of the fetus.

However, the court refused to consider this prayer.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)