Doctors Okay Abortion at 25 Weeks For 14-year-old Rape Victim

Doctors allow rape victim to terminate 25 week pregnancy, but what about those who don’t have access to legal aid?

Supreme Court Justices Anil R Dave and Kurian Joseph could not agree on whether Yakub Memon deserved a reprieve, but their agreement over whether a 14-year old rape victim could terminate her pregnancy after 24 weeks, has given a window of hope to the Class 10 student from Gujarat.

In a “flexible” order, the Apex Court bench left it to a team of doctors and psychologists to determine whether the girl is fit to undergo an abortion.

In what comes as a huge relief to the 14-year old girl, the medical panel at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Thursday, gave its permission for the 25-week pregnancy to be terminated.

A panel of five doctors — four from civil hospital and a private practitioner — has given the nod for abortion.
– Superintendent of the civil hospital M M Prabhakar to PTI.

Speaking to The Quint, Kamini Jaiswal who argued the petition moved by the girl’s father hopes the Supreme Court decision will prompt the government to take a serious view of the proposed amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971.

There needs to be a change in the law. There is a bill pending to allow termination of pregnancy up to 24 weeks, but like everything else, this is not a priority for the government.
– Kamini Jaiswal, Senior Supreme Court advocate

But what about those who don’t have access to top notch legal aid ?

One needs to look at the facts of each case and take a decision. No two cases are alike. The child’s well-being should be prioritised above everything else.
– Kamini Jaiswal, Senior Supreme Court advocate

While the abortion law in India is relatively liberal, it states that termination of pregnancy can be allowed only up to 20 weeks. Earlier this month, the Gujarat High Court rejected the petition citing the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and ordered the government to pay the girl Rs 1 lakh in compensation.

Dealing with a similar case in April this year, the Gujarat High Court rejected the abortion petition of a 24-year old woman who was 28 weeks pregnant. She was allegedly abducted and gangraped for six months and was, reportedly, already a few months pregnant before she managed to escape.

The Court’s stringent view on an already liberal law could explain the “disappearance” of a 15-year old rape victim who was four months pregnant in Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab. The police reportedly suspected that the girl’s family was trying to get the pregnancy terminated by illegal means because doctors had refused to carry out an abortion on account of health concerns.

Even when going through the legal route, the parents of a 15-year old rape survivor were dismissed by a doctor in Chennai who insisted on a court order, despite the fact that she was only 12 weeks pregnant. Timely intervention by the Madras High Court ensured the girl was able to get an abortion.

But not all have the knowledge, means or access to justice in our country.

An 11-year old daughter of construction workers in a tribal dominated taluka in Vadodara was just over 20 weeks pregnant when her family discovered she had been raped. Citing the law, doctors had refused to perform an abortion.

The landmark Supreme court judgement should hopefully serve as a precedent for the lower courts when dealing with cases of minors who get pregnant due to rape and nudge the government to take a serious view of the proposed amendment to the MTP Act.