The Kerala High Court has allowed a medical termination of a minor girl’s 8-month pregnancy, impregnated by her brother.
The Court allowed the abortion after the girl’s father had pleaded to get the pregnancy terminated.
The High Court stated the decision was taken to avoid any social and medical complications that may arise and affect the child.
The minor girl is 15-year-old and has a 7-month foetus.
A single bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman announced the decision after taking the report of the medical board into consideration.
The medical board was set up to examine the girl’s medical condition.
Justice Rahman while announcing the decision said the if the 32-week pregnancy will not be aborted now, the girl might face social and mental health problems in the future as the child is born from her own brother.
The Court after examining the medical report of the girl declared the child mentally and physically fit for the termination of her pregnancy.
It is also being said that the medical board in its report stated there are high chances of the girl giving birth to a live baby during the abortion process.
The bench directed the District Medical Officer of Malappuram and Superintendent of Government Medical College Hospital, Manjeri to immediately take the necessary steps to medically terminate the girl’s pregnancy
Earlier this month, in a similar case the Delhi High Court had allowed the medical termination of pregnancy of a 11-month pregnant minor girl and directed the doctors and police to maintain the privacy of the girl and her family members.
The Delhi High Court in its order stated the Supreme Court judgment in protection of a minor’s identity in cases of medical termination of pregnancy.
In September last year, the Supreme Court had ordered the benefits of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in favour of minors who engage in consensual sexual activity by barring the concerned medical authorities from disclosing their identity to the local police.
