SC refuses urgent hearing on abortion law
Friday, March 3, 2017 IST
The court had cited the medical board's report that stated the 37-year-old woman faced no physical risk in continuation of pregnancy.
The Supreme Court Thursday refused to grant an urgent hearing on a plea challenging the constitutional validity of a law that prohibits abortion of a 20-week-old foetus, ANI reports. The plea was related to the Monday ruling of the apex court when it refused to allow a woman to abort her 26-week foetus that showed signs of having Down Syndrome, saying “we have a life in our hands”. The court had cited the medical board’s report that stated the 37-year-old woman faced no physical risk in continuation of pregnancy.
As per India’s abortion law, a woman cannot undergo an abortion if her pregnancy crosses 20 weeks. According to Times of India, the apex court on Thursday said “there are very important national issues which are in queue” and that it would grant a hearing to this particular petition only after the summer vacation. By then, however, the woman would have most likely given birth.
The woman, in her plea, has said that Down Syndrome could cause physical and mental retardation in the child who would not be able to lead a normal and healthy life. The court, however, stated, “As per a report of the medical board constituted to examine the 37-year-old woman, there was no physical risk to the mother in continuation of pregnancy. Everybody knows that children with Down’s Syndrome are undoubtedly less intelligent, but they are fine people.”
In a separate case, the apex court had in January allowed a 22-year-old woman, who was in her 24th week of pregnancy, to terminate her pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act after the medical report suggested the foetus had no skull.
Related Topics
Related News & Articles
Rahul Gandhi's team told the authorities that "serious questions" about intentional tampering with the aircraft could not be brushed aside.
<...
Recently posted . 616 views . 1 min read
The character Slytherin had the ability to talk to snakes in the fictional Harry Potter world.
Recently posted . 540 views . 1 min read
Ahead of the Winter seasons, when air pollution levels traditionally skyrocket in the capital, the government will start a fresh crackdown on vehicles that breach t...
Recently posted . 540 views . 2 min read
His objections were rejected by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who introduced the bill.
Recently posted . 488 views . 1 min read
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday slipped up while giving a speech to motivate school students and counted supe...
Recently posted . 484 views . 2 min read
Trending News & Articles
While the Uttarakhand High Court has asked to block 857 websites, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) found 30 portals without any pornographic content.
...
Recently posted . 61K views . 1 min read
The four boys as well as five school officials, including the director and principal, were arrested after the incident. The minors were presented before the Juvenil...
Recently posted . 7K views . 1 min read
Rahul was having an Italian passport and was carrying suitcase full of dollars. Some say it was about was it $2 million.
Rahul and his girl friend was th...
Recently posted . 7K views . 7 min read
True – Tr...
Recently posted . 6K views . 83 min read
More in National
The US, however, continued to keep China on its watch list, urging the Asian nation to take necessary steps to avoid a "persistently weak currency".
Recently posted. 476 views . 1 min read
“I have seen the film. It’s a beautiful film. It shows how certain perception in the media, police and judiciary can adversely affect someone. It had se...
Recently posted. 502 views . 1 min read
The first and most important thing to note is that there are prescribed time limits under which the TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) has to be filed to claim a refund.<...
Recently posted. 1K views . 1 min read
Recently posted . 881 views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 974 views . 48 min read
Recently posted . 1K views . 88 min read
The central government on Tuesday notified all medical devices as ‘drugs’, effective from April 1, bringing a range of products from instruments to impl...
Recently posted. 440 views . 2 min read
Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot was responsible for killing an estimated 2 million in Cambodia in the late 1970s.
Recently posted. 506 views . 0 min read