Delhi HC Permits Woman To Terminate Her 23-Week Pregnancy Due To Severe Complications
Globally, one of the most controversial topics to discuss is abortion. While most religions deem it to be a sin and equate it with murder, I believe it has more to do with patriarchy than anything else. However, abortion laws in India are a tad more stable than they are in countries like the USA or Saudi Arabia but that doesn’t mean they’re perfect. Ideally, a woman should have sole autonomy over her body, during pregnancy and otherwise, but telling us what we can and can’t do is the patriarchy’s favourite pastime. However, over the past year or so it has become increasingly clear that the Indian courts of law are in our corner. They are trying to make a woman’s life in India bearable be it abortions or crimes against women. And until we have complete control over our bodies, this is the next best thing.
You see, on Tuesday, the Delhi HC allowed a woman who is 23-weeks pregnant to abort the twin foetuses that she was carrying. The woman had filed a plea before the court and sought permission to end her pregnancy as her twins suffered from ‘dandy walker malformation’, a rare congenital brain abnormality. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) also corroborated her claims and said that the woman’s twin foetuses suffered from abnormalities and once born, the babies would face severe long term development issues.
The Delhi HC allowed a woman to abort 23-week pregnancy after an AIIMS medical board said the twin foetus she was carrying did suffer from abnormalities and once born would face long-term developmental issues. https://t.co/wlzzjO8kDu
— News18.com (@news18dotcom) May 25, 2021
Also Read: India’s Abortion Law Amendment Still Doesn’t Give Women The Final Choice. This Needs To Change
In view of the AIIMS report, Justice Rekha Palli permitted the woman to abort her twin foetuses. Both, the woman and her husband were present during the proceedings and said that they understood the risks involved. The woman had approached the court on 20 May. She told the court that she and her husband found out about the foetus abnormalities on 28 April but their doctors wanted to confirm the diagnosis and hence the delay in filing the plea. Also, they weren’t aware that they needed a court order to terminate the pregnancy at such an advanced stage. The court, in turn, had asked AIIMS to form a board, examine the woman and file a report by 24 May.
All in all, we are so glad that this woman was allowed to terminate her pregnancy due to all the excessive complications. No woman should have to suffer in silence anymore.
