SC declines urgent hearing to petition challenging validity of abortion law

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 2

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to give an urgent hearing to a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the law on abortion that prohibits termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks.

“There are very important national issues which are in queue to be adjudicated....it is not possible now to decide this plea on abortion law,” a bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar said.

The petition filed by Nikhil Data--a Mumbai-based doctor—a few years ago, was mentioned before the CJI’s bench by senior counsel Colin Gonsalves and advocate Sneha Mukherjee for its early disposal.

The development comes close on the heels of the top court refusing permission to a 37-year-old woman from Alibaug district in Maharashtra to terminate her 24-week-old foetus suffering from Down syndrome after a medical board opined that chances of its survival on birth were high.

“Everybody knows that children with Down syndrome are undoubtedly less intelligent, but they are fine people,” the top court had said rejecting the woman’s plea on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the CJI said the petition could be considered only after the summer vacation. By then she would have probably delivered her child with Down syndrome.

A board of doctors from KEM hospital, Mumbai, had said in its report that the foetus was likely to have mental and physical challenges but opined that it did not warrant termination of pregnancy. It had also said there was no physical risk to the mother in continuing with the pregnancy.

“With this report, we don’t think we are going to allow termination of pregnancy. We have a life in our hands,” a bench of Justice SA Bobde and Justice LN Rao had said.

Down syndrome occurs when an individual has additional genetic material that alters the course of development.

Some of the common physical traits of Down syndrome are low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the eyes, and a single deep crease across the centre of the palm. Each person with Down syndrome may possess these characteristics to different degrees, or not at all.

Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, a woman is not permitted to abort her foetus after the pregnancy crosses 20 weeks, unless the mother’s life is at risk.

It’s for this reason that often pregnant women move the top court for permission to terminate pregnancy that has crossed 20 weeks.

The petitioner had earlier contended that Down syndrome could cause physical and mental retardation. A child would not have a normal and healthy life, she contended.

In her petition, she had submitted that the law allowed termination of pregnancy in extreme cases if it caused grave injury to the physical and mental health of the pregnant woman and if there was a substantial risk of the child suffering from physical and mental abnormalities after birth.

Last month, a 22-year-old woman from Navi Mumbai was allowed to abort her foetus which had under-developed kidneys after a medical board said the foetus had no chance of survival.

But unlike in the previous cases, the medical board did not support aborting the foetus suffering from Down syndrome.

The report of the medical board perused by the top court confirmed that the foetus suffered from Down syndrome but said that there was 50 to 75 per cent chance of survival of the child in such cases.