Court rejects plea to abort foetus with Down’s Syndrome

Court rejects plea to abort foetus with Down’s Syndrome

India’ s top court Tuesday denied a plea by a pregnant woman to terminate her 26 - week old foetus diagnosed with Down ’ s Syndrome, the latest in a string of women to have her abortion request rejected .
Indian law does not permit terminations after 20 weeks but the Supreme Court has made exceptions in cases where there is a danger to the life of the mother or baby .
The latest petition was denied after the court relied on a report by doctors which said there was “no physical risk” to the life of the 37 - year- old mother if she continued with the pregnancy .
The two - judge bench also said it was not confirmed the foetus would suffer from severe mental and physical challenges .
Down ’ s Syndrome is a genetic disorder typically associated with physical growth delays and intellectual disability .
“ The medical report clearly does not , and possibly cannot, observe that this particular foetus will have severe mental and physical challenges , ” the bench said , according to a copy of the order seen by AFP.
“ It states that the ‘ baby is likely to have mental and physical challenges ’ . ”
In recent months India’ s top court has received a number of petitions from women — including rape survivors and trafficked victims — seeking abortions where pregnancies had gone beyond 20 weeks .
Activists say the restriction should be extended to 24 weeks as victims of rape are often late to report their pregnancies .
In 2015 , the Supreme Court allowed a 14 - year- old rape victim to abort a foetus after the 20 - week limit .