The Supreme Court this week rejected a woman’s plea for abortion. The woman — 26 weeks pregnant, married, with two children, and undergoing postpartum psychosis — requested termination because she was “physically, emotionally, mentally, financially and medically unable to carry, deliver or raise a child.” Denying her request, the three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud said the Court’s recognition of a woman’s autonomy cannot eclipse the “rights of the unborn child.”
India’s Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act allows abortion up to 24 weeks, post which termination is permitted only if a board of doctors attests that continued pregnancy presents a risk to the woman’s life or if there are foetal abnormalities. The woman approached the Court at 25 weeks when she was made aware of the pregnancy (she had lactational amenorrhea, where breastfeeding temporarily halts menstruation, thereby preventing pregnancy). The AIIMS medical board in its report found no cause for immediate concern: the foetus was healthy and viable. The government would bear medical costs and the woman may give the child for adoption post delivery, the Court said.
In a conversation with Saumya Kalia, Gauri Pillai, Assistant Professor of Law at the National Law School of India University, explains the Court’s verdict— one year after a landmark ruling expanded the scope of abortion rights in India. Edited excerpts:
