Indian court allows 25-week abortion due to end of woman’s relationship

The Bombay High Court of India permitted a 31-year-old woman to abort her 25-week-old preborn baby, despite India’s 20-week age limit for abortions — for no other reason than she faced a lack of support from family and the child’s father.

Key Takeaways

• The woman, who remained anonymous in every news story, told the court her pregnancy was causing her “mental trauma.”

• The court ruled such “anguish” was “constituting grave injury to her mental health.”

• The woman claimed her family would not accept the pregnancy and the father of the child was not supporting her, as the relationship had ended.

The Details

The High Court directed JJ Hospital to examine the woman on June 13. The medical examiner who performed her psychiatric evaluation said she faced financial struggles, “inter-personal conflicts,” and had a history of sadness, stress, alcohol consumption, and smoking, India Express reports.

The hospital medical board said she was “fit to undergo the procedure under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.”

“We are satisfied that continuance of the pregnancy shall adversely affect the already disturbed psychological condition of the petitioner. Hence, in the peculiar facts of this case, we permit the petitioner to medically terminate the pregnancy,” the court said.

Under the Medical Termination of a Pregnancy Act, India law permits abortions performed by certified doctors up to 20 weeks, according to Samad Hospital. The law only specifies case-exceptions such as rape or risk to the life of the mother.

Self-administered chemical abortions are illegal. 

2nd Trimester Abortion | Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) | What Is Abortion?

The Backstory

The expectant mother said her parents did not know about her pregnancy because her family would not accept her, and her relationship with the father of the child had ended.

She said their consensual relationship had resulted in her pregnancy due to the failure of a contraceptive device. The father of the child refused “to offer support or assistance to her in any manner, despite being an active participant in bringing about the present situation,” the mother said. 

Amazing Timelapse of EVERY SINGLE DAY of a Child’s Development in the Womb | Window to the Womb

The bench asked her to bring her former partner to the chamber hearing. When he came to court, he offered to pay the woman roughly $1,167 in U.S. dollars for medical and legal expenses.

The bench said the man “appeared to be a mature person,” had “accepted responsibility,” and said he would accompany the woman to the hospital to be with her while their child — old enough to survive outside the womb — was intentionally killed.