Kerala HC says woman's right to exercise reproductive choice must not be denied
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Kochi: The Kerala High Court has permitted a 23-year-old college student to have her pregnancy terminated, ruling that there can be no restrictions on a woman's right to exercise her reproductive choice to either reproduce or refrain from procreation.
On November 2, the Justice V G Arun bench handed down the ruling after debating an MBA student's request for a medical termination of the nearly 27-week-old pregnancy. Given the restrictions outlined in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, and the advanced stage of the pregnancy, none of the hospitals were ready to end the pregnancy. She therefore asked the court's intervention, Indian Express reported.
The woman testified before the court that the contraception she had been using during her consensual relationship with her classmate had failed. Her problems were made worse when the friend she was seeing departed the country to pursue higher education.
The woman claimed that she didn't learn she was pregnant until October 25, when an ultrasound was done on the doctor's advise after she started having irregular periods and other bodily discomforts. Her erratic menstrual cycles were a symptom of polycystic ovarian disease, which she had been afflicted with.
Earlier, the high court had mandated the formation of a medical board that would examine the woman and make recommendations regarding the medical procedure most appropriate for ending the pregnancy, the likelihood that the child would survive birth, and any other matters that the medical board deemed pertinent in such cases.
The medical board had advised the court to move forward with the MTP for the second trimester despite the hazards to both the mother and the unborn child. The pregnant woman was prepared to accept the dangers involved with the abortion since she wants to further her studies.
The judge said that she was allowed to end her pregnancy at any facility that had the equipment required by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and added, "There can be no restriction on a woman's right to exercise her reproductive choice to either procreate or to abstain from procreating. A woman's right to make reproductive choice being a dimension of her personal liberty, as understood under Article 21 of the Constitution of India."
The court also cited a 2016 Mumbai High Court ruling that stated, "An abortion is a carefully considered decision taken by a woman who fears that the welfare of the child she already has, and of other members of the household that she is obliged to care for with limited financial and other resources, may be compromised by the birth of another child. These are decisions taken by responsible women who have few other options. They are women who would ideally have preferred to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, but were unable to do so. If a woman does not want to continue with the pregnancy, then forcing her to do so represents a violation of the woman's bodily integrity and aggravates her mental trauma which would be deleterious to her mental health."
