On August 31, 2017, The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India allowed the petition of a Pune woman, seeking to abort a 24 week foetus, which could not be allowed as according to Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act prohibits abortion of a foetus after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The Hon’ble Court, while deciding upon the case had earlier passed an order for constituting medical boards across the States and Union Territories for such cases, for examining the health of the foetus in such cases, which was later affirmed by the Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Centre.
The judgment was, thus given after considering the report of the advisory board and after giving due regards to the fact that the foetus, so developed, did not have either a brain or a skull.
The Bench comprising of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao stated that, “Keeping in view, the report of the medical board, we are inclined to allow the prayer and direct medical termination of pregnancy of petitioner. We consider it appropriate and in the interest of justice to allow termination of pregnancy,”
