A medical board was formed at SSKM Hospital, which endorsed the termination appeal.
KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Thursday allowed a 37-year-old woman to medically terminate her pregnancy at 34 weeks — making it the most delayed abortion in the country to receive legal sanction — on the grounds that the fetus had spina bifada, an incurable disorder.
The woman from north Kolkata had filed a petition last week saying that doctors at several private hospitals had ruled that the birth defect wouldn’t allow the baby’s spine and spinal cord to form properly. A baby born with this condition cannot move or perform normal bodily functions and could die within weeks.
The most delayed abortion in the country so far was at 33 weeks. It was sanctioned in August last year by the Bombay high court, which allowed a 20-year -old woman to medically terminate her pregnancy because her fetus suffered from Arnold Chiari malformation II — a group of brain malformations that lead to serious spinal disorders — and bilateral clubfoot.
In the case of the Kolkata woman, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha asked her whether she was ready to take the risk of such a late abortion and allowed it after she replied in the affirmative. The court, however, made her and her husband sign an undertaking in the form of an affidavit saying they wouldn’t hold anyone responsible if anything goes wrong during the procedure.
