New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday expanded the scope of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act to include “unmarried women” as it allowed a 25-year-old woman to abort her 24-week-old fetus, which resulted from a consensual relationship was.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and AS Bopanna directed the AIIMS director to constitute a medical board of two doctors to examine the woman by Friday under the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. It asked the board to determine whether terminating the pregnancy could endanger the life of the woman.
“We request the AIIMS Director to constitute a Medical Board as per the provisions of Section 3(2)(d) MTP Act by tomorrow (Friday). If the Medical Board concludes that the fetus can be aborted without any danger to the life of the petitioner (female), then AIIMS will abort as per the petition.
The top court has sought a report from the medical board within a week of the process.
Read the full text of the order here:
With inputs from PTI.