Formulate SOP For Medical Termination Of Pregnancy Beyond 24 Weeks To Prevent Need For Court Intervention: Bombay High Court To State

The Bombay High Court recently directed the state government to formulate a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) within two months to be followed by all government hospitals and medical colleges in the state for medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) beyond 24 weeks.

A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Nitin W Sambre sitting at Nagpur directed the registration of a petition seeking permission for MTP as a separate PIL to prevent the need for court intervention in such matters.

“The learned Government Pleader is requested to not only apprise the authorities concerned about this order but also to use his good offices to ensure that workable Standard Operating Procedure is put in place and implemented so that no one needs to travel to this Court for seeking any permission for termination of pregnancy, if the woman is entitled to do so under the provisions of the MTP Act, 1971 and MTP Rules, 2003.”

The Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary of the Department of Public Health, as well as the Medical Education and Drugs Department, State of Maharashtra, were impleaded as party respondents to the PIL.

The court passed these directions while allowing a writ petition by a thirty-two weeks pregnant woman seeking permission for medical termination of pregnancy due to fetal abnormalities.

The petitioner sought directions to allow her to undergo a medical termination of pregnancy due to the abnormality detected in the fetus. Given that the pregnancy had exceeded twenty-four weeks, the court on April 3, 2024, directed the Civil Surgeon to conduct a medical examination and submit a report. The Medical Board at the General Hospital, Wardha, comprising nine doctors and one matron, conducted the examination and forwarded its report, confirming the abnormalities in the fetus.

Based on the Medical Board's findings, which indicated substantial risks to both the petitioner's physical and mental health, as well as potential handicaps for the child if born, the court directed the termination of the pregnancy at General Hospital, Wardha.

The court also noted that despite the provision of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, and the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003, which mandate referral to a Medical Board in such cases, the petitioner was incorrectly directed to seek court permission for termination.

Under the Act, a pregnancy of up to twenty weeks may be terminated by a registered medical practitioner and where length of pregnancy is between twenty and twenty-four weeks, by two registered practitioners. However, sub-section 2B of Section 3 of the Act carves out an exception to this, permitting termination of pregnancy exceeding twenty-four weeks if the Medical Board opines that it is diagnosed that there are substantial foetal abnormalities.

“There is no such requirement of seeking any permission from the Court by any woman who intends to get her pregnancy terminated even if the pregnancy is beyond twenty four weeks. All what was required to be done, in such a situation, was that the woman ought to have been referred to the Medical Board”, the court observed.

Consequently, the court directed the Department of Public Health and the Department of Medical Education and Drugs of the State of Maharashtra to formulate an SOP, to be prepared by experts in the field, to streamline the process and prevent the need for court intervention in such matters.

The court also took into account the petitioner's financial constraints, directing that all expenses related to hospitalization, procedures, and medicines be borne by the Management of General Hospital, Wardha.

The court scheduled further proceedings for June 12, 2024, expecting the State Government to formulate and notify the SOP within two months.

Case no. – Writ Petition No. 2319 of 2024

Case Title – ABC v. State of Maharashtra