Delhi HC denies permission to abort 23 week-pregnancy of unmarried woman
New Delhi, July 16: The Delhi High court has rejected an unmarried woman's plea to terminate a 23-week pregnancy that resulted from a consensual relationship.
The 25-year-old woman was denied interim relief by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad due to Rule 3B of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Rules 2003, which prohibits an unmarried woman from terminating a pregnancy that is more than 20 weeks old if it resulted from a consensual sexual relationship.
The bench stated, "The petitioner, who is an unmarried woman and whose pregnancy arises out of a consensual relationship, is clearly not covered by any of the clauses under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003. Therefore, section 3(2)(b) of the Act is not applicable to the facts of this case."
"Rule 3B of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003, stands, and this court, while exercising its power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, 1950, cannot go beyond the statute. Granting interim relief now would amount to allowing the writ petition," it further stated.
Since it excludes a woman who is not married, Rule 3B of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003, according to advocate Amit Mishra, violates Article 14 of India's constitution.
The bench ruled, "whether such rule is valid or not, it can be decided only after the said rule is held Ultra Virus, for which purpose, notice has to be issued in the writ petition and has been done so by this court."
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The bench also issued notice to the Health Department of the Delhi government and directed to file a response to the petition by August 26. According to the court, the notice is limited to the prayer which seeks to include an unmarried woman in Rule 3B of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003.
These regulations include the right to terminate pregnancies up to 24 weeks for rape victims, minor women whose marital status changes during pregnancy, women who are mentally sick, and women who have foetal malformations.
The court had stated during the petition hearing on Friday that granting permission for abortion at this stage would amount to killing the child, the court will not allow this.
The bench had recommended placing the child up for adoption. "There is a long queue for adoption. Why are you killing the child?" it said.
It further stated that it is not forcing to raise the child and everything will be taken care of by the government.
The bench also asked the senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who was present in the Courtroom, what he has to say on the court's view to which Sibal had said that the child should not be aborted at this stage.
The petitioner, challenging rule 3B, had submitted that the pregnancy will impact the petitioner physically and mentally.
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-PTC News
