Bombay High Court Allows Unmarried Teen To Terminate 26-Week Pregnancy
NDTV
The bench permitted the petitioner to terminate her pregnancy after holding that courts must take into account her actual foreseeable environment
The Bombay High Court has permitted an 18-year-old unmarried woman to medically terminate her 26-week pregnancy, even though the foetus was deemed healthy and the condition posed no risk to her physical or mental health.
In an order passed on Wednesday, a bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Madhav Jamdar permitted the petitioner to medically terminate her pregnancy, after holding that in deciding the impact of the pregnancy on the woman's mental health, courts must also take into account her actual foreseeable environment.
Following the High Court's previous directions, a panel of doctors at the state-run JJ Hospital examined the woman, who had sought permission for an abortion, citing that she was unmarried and not in a position to carry the foetus to full term.
Doctors informed the court that the foetus did not have any medical anomalies, and further said that while the woman had a mild case of depression, if she sought treatment for it, the pregnancy will not pose any risks to her physical or mental health.
