Should a pregnant,mentally challenged woman who was raped be allowed to exercise her right to motherhood or should her unborn child be aborted as she conceived after being raped? Faced with this question,the Supreme Court today stayed the July 17 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had ordered immediate termination of the womans pregnancy. Moved by the plight of this woman she is an orphan who was raped,allegedly by the staff of a Nari Niketan in Chandigarh,and is now in her 20th week of pregnancy the bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam found it difficult to take an immediate decision on her case. Seeking to know her mental and physical capabilities,the bench asked about the womans age and intelligence level. After the expiry of the 20th week of pregnancy,it is illegal to abort a foetus as per provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. Realising that time was running out for the woman, the bench issued notice to the Chandigarh administration and posted the matter for a final decision tomorrow. Advocate Tanu Bedi,who argued the case on behalf of the expecting woman,said she was 19 to 20-years-old but had the IQ of a nine-year-old. This made the bench observe: She may be an adult but has got the intelligence of a nine-year-old. To Bedis argument that India is a pro-life country and unless a mothers express consent is there,termination of pregnancy is illegal,the CJI observed,with a mind of a nine-year-old,how will she react to situations especially after the birth,is not known. And whether the child too be mentally retarded? asked the bench. Bedi defended the rights of a mentally challenged woman,supporting her case with two reports from a panel of doctors constituted by the Punjab and Haryana HC in coming to the decision. She reminded the bench that India was a signatory to the 2006 UN convention which recognizes rights of mentally challenged persons. Finding it difficult to agree with the lawyers submissions,the CJI remarked: All this may be the aspirations of a nine-year-old. But then she may have so many other aspirations too. We have to look at the overall situation considering her position and that of a child who will be born. On perusing the strong arguments by Bedi,the bench said mental retardation could not be a ground for termination of pregnancy. Following detection of pregnancy,the Chandigarh administration had earlier came to the conclusion that in her best interest,the woman,now approaching the critical 20th week of pregnancy,needed to undergo a medical abortion. The administration moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking a nod for the decision. On July 17,the High Court gave the administration the go-ahead to have the pregnancy medically terminated.
