Bombay HC Displeased With JJ Group Medical Board's Insensitive Approach, Grants Abortion Permission To Pregnant Woman

Bombay HC Displeased With JJ Group Medical Board's Insensitive Approach, Grants Abortion Permission To Pregnant Woman

The Bombay High Court has expressed its “extreme displeasure” over the conduct of the Medical Board at JJ Group of Hospitals and criticized the “insensitivity” shown in examination of a pregnant woman referred for medical termination of pregnancy.

Urvi MahajaniUpdated: Sunday, October 13, 2024, 12:38 AM IST
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Bombay HC | File

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has expressed its “extreme displeasure” over the conduct of the Medical Board at JJ Group of Hospitals and criticized the “insensitivity” shown in examination of a pregnant woman referred for medical termination of pregnancy.

The HC was hearing a plea by a married woman in her 27th week pregnancy seeking permission to medically terminate her pregnancy due to the risk of mortality and morbidity to the foetus, which has been diagnosed with congenital anomalies. These abnormalities were detected, and was advised to terminate the pregnancy.

Initially, the woman was examined by the Medical Board under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act at Sir JJ Group of Hospitals. The board’s report, dated October 1, 2024, noted the anomalies in the foetus and recommended a medical termination of the pregnancy.

Subsequently, she sought treatment at KEM Hospital but was informed that the procedure could not proceed without a court order, since she had crossed the 24-week threshold period. Hence, she approached the HC through advocate Manisha Jagtap.

The court had specifically directed the medical board to re-examine the petitioner and submit a fresh opinion. Despite these orders, when the woman visited the hospital on October 9, 2024, the board did not conduct any new examination and merely submitted the previous report to the court in a sealed envelope.

The court noted the petitioner’s hardship in travelling from her residence in Kalyan to the hospital without any examination being done. “It must be noted here that the Petitioner (woman) is a resident of Kalyan and she had to travel all the way from Kalyan to JJ Group of Hospital and after that had to go back to Kalyan without there being any examination done by the Medical Board. This caused immense hardship to the Petitioner who is in the 27th week of pregnancy,” a bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Neela Gokhale said.

Expressing disappointment at disregard of its order by the medical board, the HC said: “We express our extreme displeasure at the conduct of the Medical Board and the attitude shown by it and particularly at the insensitivity in handling the situation.”

State advocate Molina Thakur filed an affidavit stating that there could not have been much difference in the anomalies of the foetus between September 28 and October 9. However, the court noted that the board failed to consider the petitioner’s health and fitness to undergo the termination procedure, which was a critical aspect of the examination.

Although the affidavit included an unconditional apology, the court emphasised the need for greater responsibility and sensitivity from the Medical Board in handling such cases in the future. The court directed the board to re-examine the petitioner, considering both the foetus’ condition and her health, to provide a comprehensive report.

The medical board submitted another report reaffirming the recommendation for termination, confirming that the petitioner was fit for the procedure. Based on this, the court granted permission for the medical termination of the pregnancy.

Additionally, the court instructed the hospital to provide post-procedure care to the petitioner and, if necessary, neonatal care for the baby if born alive. If the petitioner chooses to place the child for adoption after delivery, the state and its agencies are directed to take responsibility for the child’s rehabilitation and adoption. However, the petitioner retains the right to keep the child if she so wishes, the judges underlined.

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