The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a woman’s petition seeking permission to terminate her 26-long pregnancy, noting that there is no immediate threat to the mother’s life and this is not a case of foetal abnormality.
"Pregnancy is 26 weeks and 5 days. Allowing termination of pregnancy will be a violation of Sections 3 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act as there is no immediate danger to the mother, and this is not a case of foetal abnormality," Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said.
"We cannot stop the heartbeat," he said.
The top court bench which also included Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that allowing the petitioner to carry on with abortion would violate provisions of the Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.
Under the MTP Act, the upper limit for the termination of pregnancy is 24 weeks for married women, special categories including survivors of rape, and other vulnerable women such as the differently-abled and minors.
The Supreme Court had October 9 permitted the woman to proceed with the medical termination of her pregnancy after she claimed that she was suffering from post-partum depression and was not in a position to raise a third child, emotionally and financially.
The central government, however, filed a separate petition seeking a recall of this order, citing the advice of a panel of doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) against abortion in such an advanced stage.
"The child is ready to be born. It won't be right to abort because the foetus shows signs of life. The order to abort must be recalled," Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, had said.
Following this, the court directed the premier hospital to defer the abortion procedures and heard the matter again.
On October 11, a two-judge bench of the apex court delivered a split verdict, with one judge voicing her disinclination to allow abortion and the other asserting that the woman's decision "must be respected".
While Justice Hima Kohli wondered which court will say "stop the heartbeat of a foetus" and made it clear she was not inclined to permit the 27-year-old woman to terminate her pregnancy, Justice B.V. Nagarathna said the court should respect the decision of the woman who has remained determined to abort it.
A new three-judge bench constituted by the chief justice began hearing the case on Thursday. In its latest order, the apex court relied on a report by the AIIMS that said there is no abnormality in the child and there is no immediate threat to the mother’s life.