A married couple had filed a plea seeking permission to abort the pregnancy of 35 weeks. The plea was dismissed by the High Court of Kerala on 16th December 2020. Reports pointing out serious abnormalities in the foetus were produced.
The Court had earlier directed the 7th respondent to convene a medical board in order to examine the 1st petitioner and to report before this Court the medical condition of the 1st petitioner as well as the foetus. Accordingly, a medical board was constituted and the 1st petitioner was examined.
The medical board came to the conclusions that:
1. The foetus is having serious developmental brain anomalies affecting long term quality of life in the form of recurrent seizures, cognitive dysfunction & global developmental delay. Hence there there is an indication for MTP.
2. Since the gestational age is more than 34 weeks there is a possibility of survival of baby at birth.
3. Since the petitioner is having placenta previa, there is a chance of excessive bleeding during delivery”.
The Court then added:
“Even though the Medical Board has come to the conclusion that the foetus is having serious developmental brain anomalies, it has found the possibility of survival of baby at birth and that there are chances of excessive bleeding during delivery. However, there is no recommendation for termination of pregnancy”.
