On October 16, in X vs Union of India, the Supreme Court of India declined permission to a woman who was seeking to terminate a 26 week-long pregnancy. A Bench presided over by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), D.Y. Chandrachud, held that the woman’s case fell outside the scope of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971
The Court said the statute permitted the termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks only in cases where the foetus exhibited substantial abnormality, or where the woman’s life was under direct threat. Here, since doctors would have to terminate a “viable foetus”, the Court rejected the plea to exercise its extraordinary powers.
