A public interest litigation (PIL) filed before the Bombay High Court has challenged a 2024 Maharashtra government decision that requires women to obtain court permission for termination of pregnancy after 24 weeks.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Adwait Sethna has issued notice to the state government and sought its response to the petition. The matter has been posted for hearing on October 9. The PIL has been filed by paediatrician Dr Rajiv Joshi on behalf of the Medico-Legal Society of India. The petition argues that requiring women to approach the High Court for pregnancies beyond 24 weeks can result in additional medical, financial and psychological stress.
The petitioner has particularly raised concerns about women who are survivors of sexual assault and those facing serious medical complications. According to the plea, forcing such women to undergo a prolonged judicial process can add to the difficulties associated with an already complex medical situation.
The petition also argues that responsibility for managing such cases should not effectively be shifted from the medical and administrative systems to the judiciary. It seeks the removal of the mandatory court-permission requirement and the creation of a clear standard operating procedure (SOP) for late-term pregnancy termination.
Concern over neonatal care
Another issue raised in the PIL is the availability of neonatal intensive care facilities.
The petition states that in some cases involving termination after 24 weeks, there is a possibility that a premature infant could be born alive during the procedure. Such a situation may require immediate neonatal intensive care. The petitioner has claimed that the country does not have adequate NICU capacity for extremely premature newborns.
The plea further argues that doctors can be placed in a difficult position involving medical, ethical and legal considerations when dealing with such cases. It cites a case in Satara in which a gynaecologist who carried out a termination pursuant to a court order was subsequently booked, according to the petition.
The PIL has sought a clearly defined SOP for termination of pregnancies beyond 24 weeks, along with legal protection for doctors following the prescribed procedure. It has also asked the state government to bear the full cost of intensive medical treatment if a baby is born alive during a termination procedure carried out pursuant to a court order.
Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy framework, termination is permitted up to specified gestational limits subject to prescribed conditions, while cases beyond those limits can come before courts for consideration. The present PIL specifically challenges Maharashtra's requirement that court permission be obtained for termination after 24 weeks.
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