MRS. X Vs. GNCTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

(2.) The right of a pregnant woman to terminate her pregnancy or abort the foetus has been the subject matter of debate across the world. This right gives a woman the ultimate choice as to whether to give birth to the child which she has conceived. India is amongst the countries that recognises this choice of the woman, in its law, and has even expanded this right in recent times with amendments permitting termination at an advanced stage, under various circumstances. While recognising the choice of the woman - the ultimate giver of life in this world, beyond the Omnipresent, such cases highlight the severe dilemma that women undergo while taking a decision to terminate her pregnancy. Courts are no exception - in that Judges have to grapple with issues that are not merely factual and legal but also involve ethical and moral factors. With the emergence of modern technologies to detect abnormalitiesin an unborn child, the issues surrounding termination and abortion are bound to become more and more complex. Such technologies coupled with the unpredictability in ascertaining the degree of abnormalities, even by medical practitioners, pose challenges to the manner in which society may grow in the future.

(3.) The present petition has been filed by Mrs. X who, after her marriage in November, 2021, is stated to have conceived a child in March, 2022. The Petitioner is in the thirty-third week of gestation, and the due date of delivery is stated to be around mid-January, 2023.