Supreme Court allows rape victim to abort 24 weeks pregnancy

New Delhi: In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed a woman to terminate her 24-week-old pregnancy due to abnormal growth of the foetus.

The apex court allowed the rape victim to terminate her pregnancy on the basis of report of a medical board, which said the continuance of pregnancy may put mother's life in danger.

Earlier, the court, on Friday last, had asked Mumbai's King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital to set up a medical board in 24 hours and examine the feasibility of aborting a rape survivor's 24-week-old "highly abnormal" foetus.

The petitioner, a rape survivor from Mumbai, told the court that time was fast running out for her to abort the foetus, which had a very less chance of surviving the full term.

It may be mentioned that Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, permits abortion within 20 weeks of pregnancy, after the concurrence of two registered medical practitioners.