Domestic violence ground for pregnancy termination, says HC

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has allowed a woman to abort her 23-week-old healthy foetus, while observing that domestic violence has an effect on a woman's mental health and the same can be a valid ground for

medically terminating her pregnancy.

The judgement was passed by a bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Madhav Jamdar on August 3 and a copy of it was made available on Tuesday.

The HC in its order also referred to the reproductive rights of women, as envisaged by the WHO.

The 22-year-old woman, a victim of domestic violence, had been examined by a panel of experts at

the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai.

The panel held that while her foetus was healthy and had no abnormalities, the woman had undergone much mental trauma and continuation of the pregnancy would add to such trauma.

In her plea, the woman told the HC that she and her husband were getting divorced and she did not wish to continue with the pregnancy.

The current Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act does not permit termination of a pregnancy beyond 20 weeks, unless it poses health risks for the foetus and the mother.

However, various apellatte courts as well as the Bombay HC have batted for women's mental health on several previous occasions and permitted termination of a pregnancy beyond 20 weeks, if it poses a risk to a woman's mental health and if a medical panel so advises.

An amendment to the Act, which is yet to be implemented, extends the time frame to 24 weeks.