Even as the Supreme Court permitted the abortion of an over 30-week foetus of a 13-year-old girl, gynaecologists claim chances of the foetus coming out alive are high, which means the baby, if not accepted by the pregnant minor, may be handed over to the state for legal guardianship.
“We call it a pre-term delivery. Intra-uterine foeticide is not practised, and the foetus is fully formed now. The only way to abort the baby is through induced labour,” said Dr Ashok Anand, head of gynaecology department at JJ Hospital, where the child is slated to undergo pregnancy termination Friday.
A normal gestation period is 40 weeks, or nine months. According to doctors, a foetus is fully formed after 27 weeks. In a previous ruling where the apex court denied abortion to a Diva-based woman, it had observed that since she was 27 weeks pregnant, abortion might lead to live birth. In this case, the girl has already reached 31 weeks of gestation.
Dr Anand is part of the medical panel at JJ Hospital that examined the minor rape victim and submitted its opinion to the SC. The report observed that the risk of abortion and that of continuing pregnancy were equal, even though the baby might be born alive in either case. In a first, however, the report not only focused on medical aspects but considered the victim’s age and trauma.
“Unlike other cases where petitioners are adults, in this case we considered the emotional trauma of the girl. Her age is very young to carry a baby. Based on those two factors, we opined that perhaps abortion was best suited,” said Anand.
Doctors at JJ are preparing for a Caesarean procedure to terminate the girl’s pregnancy. The pelvis of girls at such a young age is small and cannot facilitate normal delivery. Delivery or abortion, in this case a pre-term delivery, will have to be carried out through Caesarean-section.
According to Dr Sangeeta Pikale, who has previously helped another pregnant woman approach the SC for abortion due to a birth defect, this judgment has “not only looked into academic aspect of a medical case, but also factored a mental mindset of a person enduring the trauma”.
“This decision is one of its kind. It is very good news in the medical fraternity. The court has recognised the anguish of the petitioner, not just legalities of the case,” Pikale said. The girl will be admitted to the JJ Hospital Thursday and undergo termination of pregnancy Friday.
