JnK HC slams doctors as women seeking MTP are forced to approach courts

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has criticised doctors for refusing to perform pregnancy terminations in legally permitted cases, observing that such refusals force women to approach courts despite the existence of a clear framework governing medical termination of pregnancy.

The observation came while a single bench of Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani was hearing a plea filed by a couple seeking termination of a 31-week pregnancy after serious foetal abnormalities were detected. The couple reportedly approached the High Court after doctors declined to proceed without a judicial order, citing the advanced stage of pregnancy.

In an order dated October 6, the court expressed concern over the failure of medical practitioners to discharge their statutory responsibilities under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, and the rules framed under it.

“The registered medical practitioners, especially doctors working in the associated hospitals of medical colleges and in other district hospitals, do not shoulder their statutory responsibilities in terms of the provisions of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and the rules of 2003 framed thereunder in justified cases, thereby leaving the aggrieved mothers at the mercy of the God who, in search of some solace, feel constrained to shoulder further mental agony and burden of approaching the courts of law for legal directions,” the court said.

The court further emphasised that doctors should not avoid urgent cases where the applicable law and statutory requirements are clear. It noted that the provisions governing gestational limits under the MTP Act must be read alongside exceptions provided for substantial foetal abnormalities and circumstances in which termination is necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life.

“The doctors working in the associated hospitals of medical colleges and in other district hospitals do not shoulder their statutory responsibilities, thereby leaving the aggrieved mothers at the mercy of the God,” the court added. 

Under the MTP Act, termination is generally permitted up to 24 weeks of pregnancy subject to prescribed conditions. Special provisions apply in cases involving substantial foetal abnormalities and certain circumstances where termination is necessary to save the woman’s life. The couple sought relief under this legal framework after being told on September 29 that the procedure could not be undertaken at 31 weeks without the High Court’s intervention, Bar and Bench reported. 

The court directed the Superintendent of Lalla Ded Hospital in Srinagar to constitute a competent medical board to urgently assess the case and decide on the request for termination.