Kerala High Court allows termination of 28-week pregnancy of 14-year-old rape survivor

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday permitted a 14-year old rape survivor to terminate her 28-week-long pregnancy..Justice VG Arun passed the order after noting that a medical board had recommended termination as the “anguish caused by the continuation of pregnancy can be presumed to cause a grave injury to the mental health of 14-year-old unmarried girl”..The Court was dealing with a plea seeking termination of a minor girl's pregnancy which was conceived out of rape.The Court had earlier ordered the constitution of a medical board to examine the pregnant child and the board's report stated that the continuation of the pregnancy would cause grave mental injury to the minor. Based on the opinion of the board, the Court permitted the termination of the pregnancy at a government hospital and directed the Superintendent of Police to take immediate measures to constitute a medical team for conducting the procedure.The Court also stated in its order that if the baby is born alive and the petitioner is not willing to assume the responsibility of the baby, the State and its agencies shall assume full responsibility and offer medical support and facilities to the child, as may be reasonably feasible, keeping in mind the best interests of the child and the statutory provisions in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015..The petitioner was represented by advocates Babu Paul and Murali Manohar..Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, the maximum permissible gestational period until which termination can be conducted is 24 weeks. However, Section 3(2)(b) allows abortion beyond 24 weeks for certain categories such as survivors of sexual assault or rape, or incest, as also minors.The issue of termination at advanced stages of pregnancy has been a matter under consideration before several constitutional courts across the Country.The Kerala High Court recently allowed a 13-year-old girl to terminate a 30-week-pregnancy conceived out of rape by her own sibling. In its order permitting the termination, the Court flagged the lack of proper sex education and easy access to porn as factors contributing to rising teen pregnancies..The Supreme Court has been taking a dim view of courts adopting unduly restrictive views in interpreting the MTP Act and Rules, even if the pregnancy arose from consensual sex.A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and AS Bopanna overturned a decision of the Delhi High Court declining to permit abortion on the ground that the length of pregnancy had exceeded 20 weeks which is the outer limit laid down by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act) and the MTP Rules for termination of pregnancy arising from consensual sexual relationships..[Read Order]