Observing that domestic violence can affect a woman’s mental health and can be a valid reason for terminating a pregnancy, Bombay High Court has permitted a woman to abort her 23-week-old healthy foetus. The judgement was handed down on August 3 by Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Madhav Jamdar and a copy was made available on Tuesday. According to the WHO, the HC also referred to the reproductive rights of women in its order.
Several experts at the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai examined the 22-year-old victim of domestic violence. Despite the fact that the foetus was healthy and had no abnormalities, the panel found the woman had undergone much mental trauma and continued pregnancy would add to that trauma.
In her plea, the woman informed the HC that she and her husband were divorcing and she did not wish to continue the pregnancy. Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP), abortions cannot be performed beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy unless it poses health risks for both mother and child. The Bombay High Court, however, has previously battled for women’s mental health and allowed termination of a pregnancy beyond 20 weeks when it poses a risk to a woman’s mental health and if a medical panel recommends it.
An amendment to the Act, which has yet to be implemented, extends the timeframe to 24 weeks. The HC affirmed: ‘If contraception failure resulting in pregnancy can be regarded as a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman, can it be stated that a pregnant woman suffering from domestic violence would not suffer grave mental injury if pregnancy is permitted in spite of continuing domestic violence?’ The bench said, ‘The core issue is the control a woman has or exercises over her own body and reproductive choice as envisaged by the world health organization (WHO).
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Every woman has the right to control reproduction as a basic need and as a basic right. As this right is closely linked to women’s health and social standing, it is best understood from the perspective of poor women and women living in rural areas’. In addition, the HC said, ‘Rape is an example of extreme violence against a woman. Domestic violence is also a violence committed on a woman, though the degree might be lesser’. It noted that the petitioner had said in her plea that in the event the child was born, she would not receive the requisite financial and emotional support from her husband.
In such circumstances, the high court said, denying the petitioner’s application would be tantamount to forcing her to proceed with her pregnancy, which would be extremely burdensome and oppressive for her, and could result in grave harm to her mental health. In Mumbai, the court permitted the petitioner woman to have her pregnancy terminated at Cooper Hospital.
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