Delhi high court allows woman to terminate 27-week pregnancy

The direction was issued after perusing the report of the medical board, comprising six members, of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences

The Delhi high court on Tuesday allowed a woman to terminate her 27-week pregnancy after medical experts found the foetus is suffering from a cardiac abnormality.

The petitioner is a 32-year-old married woman, who sought the intervention of the high court through instant petition, to conduct the medical termination of her pregnancy . (HT Archive)

The direction was issued after perusing the report of the medical board, comprising six members, of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, after the woman approached the court seeking permission for the termination of her pregnancy.

The petitioner is a 32-year-old married woman, who sought the intervention of the high court through instant petition, to conduct the medical termination of her pregnancy under Section 3(2B) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (as amended by the MTP Amendment Act, 2021).

Justice Prathiba M Singh perused the report of the medical board, which recommended a termination. The procedure may be done at AIIMS, the court said, adding that the petitioner be admitted on March 9.

Earlier on March 3, the high court had directed AIIMS to constitute a medical board to examine the woman who said that the foetus is suffering from cardiac abnormality. “Considering the nature of the abnormality let a medical board be constituted by the AIIMS,” the bench said.

The court noted that in the ultrasound done on February 17, some abnormality was found in the foetus. After that, the case was referred to a foetal medical expert. A similar abnormality was found in the subsequent examination on February 25.

The court perused the February 25 report, wherein a cardiac abnormality was found. However, it was said that no abnormality was found in the ultrasound done on January 5, 2023.