High Court Recalls Order Allowing Widow To Terminate 29-Week Pregnancy

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday recalled its earlier order allowing a woman, who lost her husband in October last year, to terminate her 29-week foetus.

“Order is recalled,” said Justice Subramonium Prasad.

Justice Prasad’s latest decision came after the Centre filed a plea seeking recall of the January 4 order allowing medical termination of the pregnancy on the grounds that the child has a fair chance of survival and the court should consider protecting the right to life of the unborn infant.

A detailed copy of the order is awaited.

In its application, the central government said in the present case, “termination of pregnancy cannot happen unless the doctors conduct a foeticide, failing which there will be pre term delivery with huge complications”.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where the woman was medically examined, also claimed that it was advisable that the pregnancy be continued for another two-three weeks for the betterment of the health of the mother and the child.

AIIMS, which urged the court to pass directions on further action in this regard, said as per the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, the provision of termination of pregnancies beyond 24 weeks is to be done for foetuses having significant abnormalities and “foeticide in this case is neither justified nor ethical as the foetus is grossly normal”.

On January 4, the high court had allowed the widow, suffering from depression, to terminate her then 29-week foetus as continuation of pregnancy could affect her mental health and observed that the right to reproductive choice also includes the right not to procreate.

The high court had noted that there was a change in the marital status of the woman, who lost her husband on October 19, 2023, and came to know about her pregnancy on October 31, 2023.

It had said the woman should be permitted to terminate her pregnancy because allowing her to continue with it can impair her mental stability as she was showing suicidal tendencies.

The woman, who got married in February 2023, lost her husband in October after which she came to her parents’ house and got to know that she was 20 weeks pregnant.

In December, she decided not to continue with her pregnancy as she was suffering from extreme trauma due to the demise of her husband and approached doctors for termination.

However, since the gestation period was more than 24 weeks, the permissible limit to abort a foetus, she was not granted permission.

Thereafter, the woman approached the court seeking permission to medically terminate her pregnancy and a medical board was constituted to assess her health condition.

AIIMS, in its report, said the woman was provisionally diagnosed with depression with problems related to the death of a spouse and a differential diagnosis of adjustment disorder and added that at this time, it cannot be speculated definitively whether the continuation of pregnancy can be detrimental to the petitioner’s health from a psychiatric viewpoint.

Rule 3(B) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Rules permits a woman to terminate her pregnancy up to 24 weeks with certain conditions.