Need not refer med board for abortion within 20 weeks: HC

In a verdict that would offer relief to rape survivors seeking termination of pregnancies, the Madras High Court held that such cases need not be referred to a medical board if the length of the pregnancy is within 20 weeks. Even in cases where it exceeds that period, the pregnancy can be terminated if the doctor deems it necessary to save the life of the woman, the court added.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh directed the DGP and Health Department to issue circulars to ensure that these guidelines were complied with.

Hearing the petition from a rape survivor who was made to move from one hospital to another, he said: “Doctors and courts need to be sensitive and should act fast, since the victim is carrying a foetus, which keeps reminding her of the agony faced by her, and every moment she suffers depression due to the pregnancy that has been forced against her.” Insisting that they should not be forced to approach the court unnecessarily, the judge added that even in the case of pregnancy exceeding 20 weeks, it can be terminated in accordance with Section 5(1) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, to save the life of the woman.

“In such cases, the length of pregnancy will have no relevance,” he said. In instances where criminal case is pending, samples should be taken for DNA test of both mother and the conceptus and sent to the forensic laboratory, he added.

In the case at hand, a man blackmailed her using secretly recorded videos to have sexual intercourse. She finally approached the police. When she sought abortion, the police failed to take any steps, and the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Egmore, insisted on police coordination, which forced her to approach the court on June 3. Despite court directions, she was shunted between hospitals before the pregnancy was terminated on June 17.