Supreme Court Allows Abortion for 14-Year-Old Pregnant Rape Survivor

Supreme Court Allows Abortion for 14-Year-Old Pregnant Rape Survivor

The 14-year-old rape survivor was granted permission by the Supreme Court to have an abortion on Monday, even though the girl’s physical and mental health may be at risk if the pregnancy continues past 29 weeks. “These are extremely rare situations where we must safeguard the children. Every minute that passes is extremely significant for her,” a bench chaired by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud declared, ordering the minor’s safe abortion. The bench, which included Justice JB Pardiwala, convened late Friday night beyond regular court hours. They ordered Mumbai’s Sion Hospital to investigate right away if the girl’s or the fetus’s physical or mental health could be in danger if the pregnancy is carried out, and they asked for a report by Monday, April 22.

After the Bombay High Court on April 4 rejected the girl’s mother’s appeal for a medical termination of the pregnancy, the girl’s mother hurried to the Supreme Court. Aishwarya Bhati, the Center’s additional solicitor general, sought the bench’s exceptional powers under Article 142 on Monday in order to bring the case to a full conclusion. She did this by citing a medical assessment that indicated the minor’s well-being may be affected by the continuation of the pregnancy. The court acknowledged her plea and used its authority under Article 142 to order the minor’s pregnancy to be immediately terminated, mentioning the minor’s age and the alleged sexual assault. The bench ordered a team of medical professionals at Sion’s Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital in Mumbai to perform the pregnancy termination, saying, “We set aside the order of the Bombay High Court, bearing in mind the exigency of the situation and the well-being of the minor.”

The Maharashtra government’s legal representative agreed to pay for the procedure’s medical costs. The high court based its April 4 ruling on an analysis of the doctors on the medical board of JJ Hospital in Mumbai. However, the appeal demanded that the Supreme Court get involved, claiming that the girl had not had a thorough examination. The girl’s physical and mental health were not thoroughly evaluated in the medical reports, which the bench pointed out on Friday. Considering the terrible circumstances surrounding the girl’s pregnancy, the bench emphasized the need for such attention.

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On that day, the court gave instructions for a medical board of doctors at Sion Hospital to assess the minor’s health on Saturday, April 20, in light of the sexual assault she had experienced. Abortions beyond 24 weeks are normally illegal under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, unless the woman’s life is in grave danger or there are significant fetal abnormalities.