SC to Centre: Amend law on pregnancy termination of rape survivors

Supreme Court of India. FILE PIC

A minor child cannot be forced to bear a pregnancy, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while pulling up the Centre and asking it to amend the law to permit rape survivors to terminate unwanted pregnancies even beyond 20 weeks.

In a ruling with far reaching implications for rape survivors, including children, and the issue of autonomy over their bodies, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took strong exception to a plea by AIIMS seeking to set aside the apex court order allowing a 15-year-old girl to medically terminate her 30-week pregnancy.

The court said that this is a case of child rape and the survivor will have a lifelong scar and trauma if termination is not allowed. If the mother does not have permanent disability, termination should be carried out, it said.

"Please amend your law that when there is pregnancy due to rape etc, then time limitation will not be there," the CJI said. It asked AIIMS to counsel the survivor's parents and said the decision has to be of the person concerned.

"There are children for adoption. In this country we have lot of sympathies...There are deserted, abandoned children on the streets. We have to look at them." it said. The top court said the decision on termination has to be that of the survivor and her parents.

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