<div>Parents of a 14-year-old girl on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking permission for abortion of a child conceived following rape committed on her by a doctor in February this year. <br /><br />A three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice H L Dattu agreed to examine the special leave petition filed by the couple from Sabarkantha district on Tuesday seeking a nod for termination of their daughter’s pregnancy.<br /><br />The parents of the Class IX student challenged the Gujarat HC order of July 23, contending it made “improper” appreciation of the provisions relating to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 and refused to permit termination of pregnancy. <br /><br />As the Act put the 20-week legal limit on abortion, the court is to decide if permission can be granted in the victim’s case whose foetus is more than 24-week old.<br /><br /> The petitioner asserted that woman’s right to make reproductive choices is also a dimension of “personal liberty” as understood under Article 21 of the Constitution. <br /><br />“Reproductive choices can be exercised to procreate as well as to abstain from procreating. The crucial consideration is that a woman’s right to privacy, dignity and bodily integrity should be respected. The reproductive rights include a woman’s entitlement to carry a pregnancy to its full term, to give birth and to subsequently raise children,” the petitioner added.<br /></div>
<div>Parents of a 14-year-old girl on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking permission for abortion of a child conceived following rape committed on her by a doctor in February this year. <br /><br />A three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice H L Dattu agreed to examine the special leave petition filed by the couple from Sabarkantha district on Tuesday seeking a nod for termination of their daughter’s pregnancy.<br /><br />The parents of the Class IX student challenged the Gujarat HC order of July 23, contending it made “improper” appreciation of the provisions relating to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 and refused to permit termination of pregnancy. <br /><br />As the Act put the 20-week legal limit on abortion, the court is to decide if permission can be granted in the victim’s case whose foetus is more than 24-week old.<br /><br /> The petitioner asserted that woman’s right to make reproductive choices is also a dimension of “personal liberty” as understood under Article 21 of the Constitution. <br /><br />“Reproductive choices can be exercised to procreate as well as to abstain from procreating. The crucial consideration is that a woman’s right to privacy, dignity and bodily integrity should be respected. The reproductive rights include a woman’s entitlement to carry a pregnancy to its full term, to give birth and to subsequently raise children,” the petitioner added.<br /></div>
