SC wants fresh medical report in abortion case

The Supreme Court on Friday called for a fresh medical report to indicate the foetal health and medical condition of a married woman, who stood firm on her plea for immediate termination of her 26-week pregnancy, a day after the 27-year-old mother of two was advised by the court to reconsider her decision.

- Utkarsh Anand and Abraham Thomas

The next hearing of the case will now be on October 16, a week after the court first permitted the abortion but then put it on hold due to divergence of opinion of a two-judge bench.

On Friday, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud noted that a fresh medical opinion was required before taking the final call because the woman's previous medical reports did not comment on the impact of the drugs that she was taking for her postpartum depression, nor were her medical prescriptions impeccable.

The woman approached the court earlier this month, saying she was unaware of her third pregnancy due to a disorder called lactational amenorrhea, which prevents a patient from menstruating, and suffered from postpartum depression and poor financial conditions. The bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, however pointed out that her medical prescriptions placed on record were silent on the diagnosis of her medical condition, nature of the ailment, and the conditions for which the drugs were advised.

Observing that the nature of the prescriptions put on record cast a cloud over their genuineness as well as demonstrate the absence of a proper diagnosis of the woman, the bench said that the facts of the case make it imperative for the court to call for a comprehensive report from a panel of doctors at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to understand the health conditions of the petitioner, impact of the drugs on her pregnancy and its possible effect on the foetus.