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The bench, while allowing the termination, recorded that it was aware of the petitioner’s reproductive freedom and her autonomy over her body
The Bombay High Court has allowed a woman to terminate her 25-week pregnancy after she was diagnosed with cancer.
The division bench of the high court, comprising Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Neela Gokhale, was hearing a petition filed by a 24-year-old woman seeking to terminate her pregnancy.
The petitioner was suffering from cancer of the tail of the pancreas with multiple liver metastases and was deemed unfit for palliative chemotherapy due to her pregnancy.
The bench directed KEM Hospital to constitute a medical board, which subsequently opined in its report that the petitioner is anemic and would require a hemoglobin build-up through transfusion before delivery.
The bench noted that the report did not suggest that the procedure of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) poses a risk to her health, aside from her anemia, which necessitates transfusion.
The petitioner informed the high court that she is suffering miserably from the ailment, experiencing unbearable pain, and that palliative treatment might help her live longer and more comfortably.
The bench, while allowing the termination, recorded that it was aware of the petitioner’s reproductive freedom and her autonomy over her body.
“We are conscious of the right of the Petitioner No.1 to reproductive freedom, her autonomy over her body and her right of choice. In these circumstances, considering the opinion of the Medical Board, doctors of Tata Memorial Centre and the wishes of the Petitioners, we are inclined to permit her to medically terminate her pregnancy, if the Petitioner No.1 continues to so desire,” the order reads.
The high court in its order also said that if the baby is born alive and if the Petitioners desire to give the child in adoption after the delivery, the State and its agency will assume responsibility of the child and take such steps as necessary to rehabilitate the child including exercising the option of placing the child in foster care/adoption by following the due legal process.
Case title: XYZ vs State of Maharashtra
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