NPN

In India, abortion is legally permitted only up to 20 weeks. Abortion is not permitted after the completion of 5 months. However, abortion is permitted up to 6 months only in certain medical conditions with special permission. Now, the Supreme Court has given a significant verdict and said that a pregnant woman has the right to terminate the pregnancy even after 30 weeks. New Delhi, February 6: The Supreme Court has given a significant verdict today that if a pregnant woman feels that she does not want the baby even after completing seven and a half months (30 weeks), she has the right to have an abortion. Abortion is permitted only up to 5 months in India. However, the Supreme Court has now given this order while hearing a special case. The bench, which said that the rights of the mother are more important than the rights of the unborn child, said that a woman cannot be forced to become a mother. The Supreme Court has said that the law cannot force a woman to continue an unwanted pregnancy, whether she is a married woman, an unmarried young woman or a minor. The Supreme Court has given these statements while allowing medical termination of a 30-week pregnancy of a girl who got pregnant while she was a minor. A bench of Justices B.V. Nagaratna and Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court emphasised that due importance should be given to the reproductive autonomy of a pregnant girl. It was said that she cannot be forced to carry the child, especially when she clearly states that she does not want to bear it. The verdict was given keeping in mind the age of the minor girl who has filed the petition and her rights. In this case, the court said that since the pregnancy was not intentional and the girl did not want to bear the child, she will be allowed to have an abortion. The girl got pregnant at the age of 17. She is now 18. Now her pregnancy has reached 30 weeks. It was argued that she got pregnant due to an affair with a friend and continuing the pregnancy without marriage would be mentally and physically traumatic for the girl. Thus, after examining the report of the Medical Board, the bench observed that there would be no serious risk to the girl if she were allowed to have an abortion at this time. Thus, permission was granted for the abortion if she so desired.