SC expounds: An adult woman has an unimpeachable right to give birth or terminate Pregnancy

CJI-headed Bench stated that “She is a mother and an adult who says she did not want a pregnancy. How can she or others be made liable for it?”.


October 28,2017:

Supreme Court Bench comprising of CJI Dipak Misra, Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice D Y Chandrachud while upholding a decision of P & H HC enunciated that, “Keeping in view strained relations between husband and wife, wife’s decision to terminate unwanted fetus was right. Termination of the pregnancy had not soured relations between the two…So, keeping in view legal position, it is held that no express or implied consent of husband is required for getting the pregnancy terminated under Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act”.
The Husband had termed the abortion, to which he had objected as “illegal“ and had demanded compensation from woman’s parents and brother, and the two doctors.
Punjab and Haryana HC had dismissed husband’s plea enunciating that Termination of the pregnancy was the sole prerogative of the woman.
CJI-headed Bench has fortified HC’s ruling by stating that,“She is a mother and an adult who says she did not want a pregnancy .How can she or others be made liable for it? Even a mentally challenged woman has a right to terminate her pregnancy. How can parents and the doctors be made liable?”.
The couple had got married in 1994 and had a son in 1995. Due to the discord, wife and son had been staying with her parents in Chandigarh since 1999. During the pendency of wife’s petition seeking the maintenance, Lok Adalat in Chandigarh had mediated and persuaded the couple to live together in husband’s house in Panipat.
In November 2002, they started living together and in January 2003 discovered that she was pregnant. As relationship showed no signs of improvement, the woman wanted to terminate “unwanted“ pregnancy.  Husband refused to sign hospital papers for the medical termination of pregnancy but the woman went ahead with abortion at a Chandigarh Hospital.

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