HC asks AIIMS to examine pregnant girl seeking abortion

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court directed the AIIMS to constitute a medical board and examine a 15-year-old pregnant girl seeking termination of her foetus.

Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said that a report of the medical board be submitted to it on December 22 to know whether medical termination of the foetus was advisable as the pregnancy was of over 25 weeks.

Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act prohibits abortion of a foetus after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

In pursuance to the court's direction yesterday, the girl today filed an affidavit stating that she wanted to get her pregnancy terminated.

Advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, appearing for the girl, claimed that the minor had changed her mind earlier under police influence and now she was for a medical termination of the foetus as she wanted to pursue her studies.

The bench said, "Given the urgency, no time be wasted and the medical board should be immediately constituted by the medical superintendent of the AIIMS and the girl be medically examined."

It said that the medical board's report be filed before the court on December 22, and the girl, along with her parents, should be present on that day.

The judge had yesterday asked the girl to "unambiguously" state whether she wanted an abrotion as she had changed her stand on the matter several times.

It had said that before passing any order, it needed to be sure that the teenager, who yesterday told the judges she wanted an abortion, would not change her mind again.

The bench had noted that the girl, who had left her house and married a man on her free will, changed her mind thrice between December 8, when she appeared before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), and December 13, when she had gone for her medical examination to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and again in the court.

The police had on November 27 taken into custody the man to whom the girl was married under the provisions of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Indian Penal Code.

Initially, the teenager did not wish to return to her parents and was sent to Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre, and later she returned to them.

She appeared before the CWC on December 8 and stated that she wished to get her pregnancy terminated, after which an AIIMS doctor was directed to examine her to ascertain if abortion was safe and medically advisable.

The doctor noted that she was not willing to abort her pregnancy as she had married consensually.

The doctor has also said that her pregnancy was a result of rape as she was aged less than 18 years. He also said termination of her pregnancy was not advisable.

The bench had noted that the girl, through her father, has now approached the court stating that she wanted an abrotion.