Mumbai: The Bombay Excessive Courtroom has allowed a 25-week pregnant girl to endure a medical termination of being pregnant (MTP) at a personal hospital after a medical board confirmed a fetal anomaly with excessive postnatal morbidity.
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela Gokhale additionally acknowledged the girl’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy whereas permitting her to endure the process.
The girl had approached the courtroom searching for permission for the process, citing the medical situation of the fetus and her unwillingness to proceed with the being pregnant. A medical board at Sir JJ Group of Hospitals and Grant Medical School examined her and advisable termination attributable to 3M syndrome, a uncommon genetic dysfunction linked to extreme development restrictions, skeletal deformities, and potential infertility.
The petitioner additionally sought permission to endure the process at a medical establishment of her alternative, offered it met the necessities beneath the MTP Guidelines. She additional requested that the registered medical practitioner comply with authorities pointers, which permit for stopping the fetal heartbeat earlier than termination to forestall a dwell beginning.
Through the listening to, girl’s advocate Meenaz Kakalia knowledgeable the courtroom a few procedural hole in Kind A beneath the MTP Act, which presently solely permits for approval of terminations as much as 24 weeks. Since there is no such thing as a class for pregnancies past this era, establishments performing such procedures can’t apply for certification beneath current guidelines.
Given the urgency of the case, the courtroom directed the hospital to submit an affidavit confirming it met the required medical and infrastructural necessities. Following an affidavit by the hospital, the HC allowed the termination.
The courtroom famous the authorized hole in Kind A and left it open for future consideration. The HC has scheduled the matter for additional listening to on March 10, 2025.
