Introduction:

The Kerala High Court recently deliberated on a case concerning the termination of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. In the matter of  Aswathy Surendran v Union of India, Justice Devan Ramachandran presided over a plea by a husband and wife seeking permission for medical termination of a 30-week-old foetus, citing substantial foetal abnormalities. The court’s decision centered on the absence of lethal foetal abnormalities as diagnosed by competent medical boards, ultimately denying the request for termination.

Arguments:

Advocates representing the petitioners, Cibi Thomas, C J Soloman, and E G Ambily, presented the plea asserting that the foetus displayed bilateral enlarged echogenic kidneys and micro cysts, indicating grave abnormalities. The petitioners sought termination citing substantial foetal abnormalities endangering the baby’s life. However, the District Medical Board and an expert medical team from SAT Medical College Campus, Thiruvananthapuram, opined that the foetus did not exhibit lethal anomalies. They recommended further evaluation post-birth due to a variable multisystemic disorder.

Court’s Judgment:

Justice Devan Ramachandran, after reviewing reports from the medical boards, noted the absence of lethal anomalies and emphasized the uncertainty surrounding the severity of the diagnosed renal abnormality until after birth. The court underscored the statutory provision requiring substantial abnormalities diagnosed by competent medical boards for permissible termination under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. Consequently, the court dismissed the plea, closing the writ petition, and highlighted the petitioners’ satisfaction with the better diagnosis of the foetus’s health condition.