The Supreme Court has stressed the need to bring unmarried women at par with married women under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and is mulling a judgment on the same.
The Supreme Court order is significant because it fills in a legislative gap in the MTP Act on an unmarried woman’s right to terminate a 20-24 week pregnancy arising out of a consensual relationship.
The High Court had said that only victims of rape, minors, women whose marital status changed during pregnancy, mentally-ill women, or women with foetal malformation are allowed to terminate pregnancy upto 24 weeks.
Justice Yashwant Varma said that though the MTP Act does not sanction termination of pregnancy after 24 weeks, courts can use their extraordinary powers in exceptional cases.