Supreme Court Forms Medical Board On Plea To Abort Foetus Without Skull

New Delhi: A woman's plea seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy on the ground that the 24-week-old foetus was without a skull today prompted the Supreme Court to set up a medical board to examine her.

A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao directed that a medical board be set up at the Pune-based B J Medical College to ascertain the condition of the 20-year-old woman and submit a report before it.

Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy or MTP Act prohibits abortion of a foetus after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

"The board shall examine the petitioner and submit a report about her condition and advisability of permitting a medical termination of pregnancy forthwith," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on August 31.

The woman moved the apex court seeking its nod to undergo medical termination of pregnancy on the ground that since skull of the foetus has not formed, the child, if born alive, may not be able to survive. 

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In a similar case, the Supreme Court had earlier this month allowed a woman to terminate her pregnancy, relying on a medical report that the 26-week-old foetus was without a skull and would not be able to survive.