High Court Allows Widow To End 27-Week Pregnancy Over Mental Trauma

New Delhi: In a special case, Delhi High Court has allowed a woman to medically terminate her 27-week pregnancy.

The high court favourably considered the 23-year-old woman’s submission that she was not in the best mental state after the death of her husband three months ago.

Justice Subramonium Prasad allowed the woman’s plea after studying the submissions related to her health following her husband’s demise (on October 9, 2023) and evaluation of psychiatric report, ANI reported.

“There is a change in the marital status of the petitioner. The petitioner has become a widow. The psychiatric evaluation report of the AIIMS indicates that the petitioner is suffering from extreme trauma due to the death of her husband,” Justice Prasad observed.

The petitioner’s condition is such that she could lose her mental balance as she has suicidal tendencies, the court observed.

“This court is of the opinion that at this juncture the petitioner should be permitted to terminate her pregnancy because allowing her to continue with the pregnancy can impair her mental stability as she is showing suicidal tendencies,” Justice Prasad said.

“Accordingly, the petitioner is permitted to undergo the procedure for termination of her pregnancy at AIIMS. AIIMS is requested to conduct the procedure even though the petitioner has crossed her gestation period of 24 weeks,” the high court said in the judgment.

The woman under distress was admitted to the AIIMS Delhi’s psychiatry ward, where she underwent psychiatric evaluation.

The medical board initially didn’t recommend termination, but the woman’s counsel Dr Amit Mishra, argued that her mental and physical trauma, exacerbated by her inability to eat, warranted the termination of her pregnancy.