The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a mentally challenged woman who had conceived after being raped in a Nari Niketan in Chandigarh,to give birth to her baby. A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan stayed the Punjab and Haryana High Court decision of July 17,2009 where the Chandigarh administration was directed to abort her foetus immediately. We stay the operation of the High Court order, the court observed. The woman,now residing in another state-run shelter home,is in her 20th week of pregnancy. After the expiry of this week,medical termination of pregnancy would be illegal as per the law. We are sure she will not be in a position to give protection or post-natal care to the child. But that can be taken care of by somebody else, noted the CJI. After being satisfied that several national-level NGOs had come forward to take responsibility of the child,the three-member bench was reluctant to accept any other arguments supporting her abortion. If there are no further complications to the woman in continuation of her pregnancy,then why abort a life? the CJI posed this query to UT administration counsel Anupam Gupta and to the counsel for one social worker,senior advocate Colin Gonsalves,who were pressing for abortion. Advocate Tanu Bedi,who argued on behalf of the woman,submitted,It would be a travesty of justice if a mother has to come to the highest court of the land to seek permission to give birth to her own child. The bench,noting that nature has its own way of providing protection,put several queries to psychologist Dr Paramleen Kaur and a gynaecologist who was a part of the panel of PGI doctors,which had examined the woman earlier. Both the doctors were present in the court. Acknowledging that if a baby is aborted against her wishes,it would cause further trauma to the woman,the court ordered that the baby should be born with mother under constant care and supervision.
