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Recently, the Delhi High Court has permitted a 28-week pregnant woman to undergo medical termination of pregnancy on account of substantial foetal abnormality, while observing that “...reproductive choice is a facet of reproductive rights of a woman and a dimension of her ‘personal liberty’, enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India and thus the Petitioner cannot be deprived of the freedom to take a decision to continue or not to continue with the pregnancy, in the backdrop of the foetal abnormalities brought forth in the Medical Opinion of the Board.”

The single bench of Justice Jyoti Singh, while allowing the woman’s request to undergo the procedure, observed that allowing the pregnancy to continue would also have a deleterious impact on the petitioner’s mental health.

The Bench said that there was a lack of compatibility of the foetus with a healthy and normal life as in view of the medical experts, the child would require cardiac surgery in the initial stage of life as well as repeat cardiac surgeries in late adolescence or adulthood.

“This entire medical regime would expose the child to intra and post-operative complications and may lead to further complexities, adversely impacting the quality of the child’s life,” noted the bench.

Further, the Bench stated that, “While the Board has opined that following surgical repair, patient is ‘likely’ to have an average physical growth, but the same is with a caveat that the surgical repair is ‘successful’.”

Thereby, the Bench permitted the petitioner to undergo termination of pregnancy at a medical facility of her choice and recorded that the medical board constituted in the case has explained the possible complications of the procedure of termination to the couple. 

Previously, on December 22, the bench had asked the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) authorities to set up a medical board on priority basis for the examination of the woman.

Cause Title – X vs Govt of NCT, W.P.(C) 14862/2021