A woman has the right to choose whether to continue her pregnancy or not and the decision is hers and hers alone to make, the Bombay High Court said while allowing a married woman to terminate her 32-week pregnancy after the foetus was detected with severe abnormalities.
A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and S G Dige, in its judgment of January 20, a copy of which was made available on Monday, refused to accept the the medical board's view that the even though the foetus has serious abnormalities it should not be terminated as the pregnancy is almost at its fag end.
The woman had approached HC seeking to terminate her pregnancy after a sonography revealed the foetus had severe abnormalities and that the baby would be born with physical and mental disabilities.
Given a severe foetal abnormality, the length of the pregnancy does not matter. The petitioner has taken an informed decision. It is not an easy one. But that decision is hers, and hers alone to make. The right to choose is of the petitioner's. It is not the right of the Medical Board, the court said in its order.
Refusing termination of pregnancy only on grounds of delay would not only be condemning the foetus to a less than optimal life but would also be condemning the mother to a future that will almost certainly rob her of every positive attribute of parenthood, the HC said.
It would be a denial of her right to dignity, and her reproductive and decisional autonomy. The mother knows today there is no possibility of having a normal healthy baby at the end of this delivery, the court said.
The bench said the existence of the foetal anomaly, as well as its severity, was certain as also the fact that it was detected late.
Because it is difficult to predict at birth what problems will occur, microcephalic babies need constant and regular follow up and check-ups with health care providers. There is no known cure or standard treatment for it. In more extreme cases, microcephalic babies need intervention almost constantly, the court said.