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The Bombay High Court has allowed a 23yearold unmarried woman to terminate her 23week pregnancy and observed that continuing it will lead to a risk of “grave physical and mental injury to her”. A Division Bench of Justices S.J. Kathawalla and Surendra Tavade was recently hearing a plea filed by a woman from Ratnagiri seeking permission to terminate the pregnancy. The woman was in a relationship with a man from Ratnagiri, but the two later broke up. After the lockdown was announced in March, she could not visit a doctor and it was only after receiving her sonography report on May 18 that she learnt she was pregnant. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, permits termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks, beyond which the courts have to decide. She said it would be extremely difficult for her to carry the pregnancy to its full term, because she would not be able to raise the child as an unmarried single parent without sufficient financial and mental support. She said it would not be possible for her to get married in future because of the “social stigma” attached to being an unwed mother. The petition also said she is mentally not ready to be a mother. On May 29, the court directed the Civil Hospital, Ratnagiri, to constitute a medical board of qualified doctors to give an opinion under the MTP Act on whether undergoing the procedure posed any health risks to the woman. The board recommended, “Continuation of pregnancy would lead to grave injury to the her mental health... It is advisable to terminate the pregnancy.” The court allowed the woman to terminate the pregnancy by observing, “We are of the view that if the petitioner is compelled to continue with her pregnancy, the same will involve a risk of grave physical and mental injury to her.”
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