Inevitably Niketa’s choice has revived memory of the controversial and landmark decision by the US. Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade case. According to that decision, most laws against abortion in the US violated the constitutional right to privacy. The effect was to overturn all state and federal laws restricting abortion that were inconsistent with the Roe decision.

The central holding of Roe was that abortions are permissible for any reason a woman chooses, up until the “point at which the foetus becomes ‘viable’, that is potentially able to live outside the woman’s womb, albeit with artificial aid. Viability is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks), but may occur earlier at even 24 weeks. Further, the court held that abortion after the viability must be available when needed to protect the woman’s health, which was broadly defined by the court in the companion case Doe v. Bolton.

So it is important to understand two critical issues arising out of Niketa’s choice: (i) the meaning of late-term abortion; and (ii) the fact that India’s abortion law is at par with liberal abortion laws in other countries around the world.

A late-term abortion often refers to an induced abortion procedure that occurs after 20th week of gestation. However, the exact point when a pregnancy becomes late-term is not clearly defined. Some sources define an abortion after 12 completed weeks’ gestation as “late”, while others define an abortion after 16 weeks as “late”. In fact, three articles published in 1998 in the same issue of the Journal of the American Association could not agree on the definition.

... contd.