The Calcutta High Court in the case Sri X v State of West Bengal And ors observed and has permitted medical termination of pregnancy of a minor gang rape survivor, which had exceeded the 24-week statutory limit under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.
The court in the case noted that the present case fell under the exception envisaged under the 1971 Act, wherein there could be a risk to the life of the mother in case the pregnancy was allowed to continue and the court directed the formation of a medical board to assess the viability of abortion for the minor girl who was 25+ weeks pregnant.
The single bench headed by Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya in the case observed and has held that the crux of the said report is that considering the circumstances and the physical and mental conditions of the patient, the Board Members have arrived at a decision that pregnancy should be terminated, but for the safety of the patient and to mitigate any complication and it should preferably be done at a higher centre than the one where the survivor is now located.
However, the court took an extreme fair stand has been taken by the respondent no. 7 and respondent no 8 are directed to ensure that the survivor, whose pregnancy is to be terminated medically, which is being brought to the SSKM Hospital at Kolkata, taking due care that the said survivor is attended to medically during such transit.
It has earlier been observed by the said court that whereas the mother hood otherhood could have come as a matter of choice much later in life, it was imposed on our little protagonist as a slur and not a blessing.
The court while considering the facts and circumstances of the case observed and has ordered the team of doctors shall carry out the procedure, while taking due care of all the formalities as envisaged in law.