The Chhattisgarh High Court has allowed a minor girl to terminate her 21-week pregnancy that resulted from rape.
In an order passed on November 24, Justice Parth Prateem Sahu said that preventing a rape survivor from ending an unwanted pregnancy would force her to carry it to its full term, which would violate her bodily integrity.
Such a situation would worsen her trauma and severely affect her physical and mental health, the court observed.
The judge held that the minor’s decision to end the pregnancy was her “personal choice” and a part of her right to personal liberty.
The order also observed that there was “no dispute that petitioner is victim of rape” besides being “desirous of terminating pregnancy as she does not want to give birth to the child of a rapist.”
A medical board from the district hospital examined the girl and concluded that she was physically and mentally fit for the procedure, the order said.
The board confirmed that the pregnancy was 21 weeks and 1 day old, which is within the legal limit of 24 weeks allowed for certain categories of women under Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.
Based on this report, the court permitted the termination under the provisions that allow abortion when the pregnancy exceeds 20 weeks but does not cross 24 weeks.
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