ꦐThe Bombay High Court has permitted a teenager, a victim of child marriage, to undergo medical termination of her 28-week pregnancy on the grounds of foetal abnormalities.
🧸A division bench of Justices P D Naik and N R Borkar in its order of April 12 also noted that the girl was “HIV seropositive”. A copy of the order was made available on Thursday.
ꦡThe 17-year-old girl had filed a petition in HC seeking permission to get her pregnancy terminated saying scans had shown that the foetus had skeletal anomalies with the possibility of genetic abnormalities.
🃏Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, a court nod is required to terminate a pregnancy beyond 24 weeks of gestation.
💫The high court relied on a report submitted by the medical board of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital in Pune that recommended termination of the pregnancy as the girl is a minor and a victim of child marriage with “HIV seropositive status”.
⛦The board in its report said the foetus also has multiple defects.
🐬The high court said it was allowing termination of pregnancy taking into account the mental and medical situation of the girl.
