The Bombay High Court dismissed the petition of Mumbai-based woman, seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy apprehending abnormalities in the 24-week-old foetus. An expert committee of doctors, appointed to examine the case of a would-be mother seeking medical termination of pregnancy (MTP), has said the foetus has "least chance" of having a congenital handicap at birth.
Petitioners Niketa and Haresh Mehta along with their doctor Nikhil Datar had moved the Bombay High Court for MTP after physicians had diagnosed the unborn child with a congenital disorder.In their petition, the couple said had sought to abort the child since it would need a pacemaker right from the time of birth and the quality of its life would be poor.
For the purpose, they had sought amendment of a section of the MTP Act under which the foetus can be aborted after 20 weeks only if there was a fatal risk to the mother and not the foetus. The couple, who hail from a middle-class family, said the pacemaker, which costs about Rs 1 lakh has a limited life of about five years.