The Supreme Court rejected the petition seeking permission to terminate the pregnancy at 26 weeks

A division bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice has rejected the plea of a woman seeking permission to terminate her 26-week pregnancy. Chief Justice D-Y Chandrachud said that allowing abortion would be a violation of Sections 3 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act as there is no immediate danger to the mother from the pregnancy and it is not a case of the fetus being abnormal. He said that we cannot stop the heartbeat.

The apex court bench comprised Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra were also present. Under the Medical Abortion Act, the upper limit for termination of pregnancy is 24 weeks.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on October 9 had allowed the woman to undergo medical termination of her pregnancy as she claimed that she was suffering from post-natal depression and was in no condition to bear a third child.

However, the Center had filed a separate petition seeking withdrawal of the order allowing abortion citing the advice of a panel of doctors of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The panel of doctors had opined against terminating the pregnancy at 26 weeks.