The Delhi High
Court on Thursday granted a 23-year-old woman the right to medically terminate
her 27-week pregnancy after she submitted she was not in the best of mental
state following the death of her husband in October last year.
Justice
Subramonium Prasad allowed the woman's plea after reviewing submissions about
her condition following the demise of her husband and her psychiatric
evaluation report.
"There is a
change in the marital status of the petitioner. The petitioner has become a
widow. The psychiatric evaluation report of the AIIMS indicates that the
petitioner is suffering from extreme trauma due to the death of her
husband," the judge said.
The petitioner's
mental state is such that she could lose her mental balance, and she has
suicidal tendencies, the court noted.
"This court
is of the opinion that, at this juncture, the petitioner should be permitted to
terminate her pregnancy because allowing her to continue with the pregnancy can
impair her mental stability as she is showing suicidal tendencies," the
judge said.
The court
directed AIIMS to initiate the procedure for terminating the woman's pregnancy.
"Accordingly,
the petitioner is permitted to undergo the procedure for termination of her
pregnancy at AIIMS. AIIMS is requested to conduct the procedure even though the
petitioner has crossed her gestation period of 24 weeks," it noted in its
judgment.
The petitioner
had been admitted to the psychiatry ward at AIIMS, where she underwent
psychiatric evaluation. Despite the medical board initially not recommending
termination, the woman's counsel, Dr Amit Mishra, argued that her mental and
physical trauma, aggravated by her inability to eat, justified the termination
of her pregnancy.
Mishra further
stated that forcing a woman to continue the pregnancy was a violation of her
privacy.