“Not a woman’s choice”: India’s abortion limit puts women at risk, say campaigners

"Not a woman's choice": India's abortion limit puts women at risk, say campaigners

Roli Srivastava
September 5, 2017

MUMBAI, Sept 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - They didn’t pop open boxes of sweets or send out excited phone messages when their first child was born at public hospital on a rainy Mumbai night in July.

The couple had known from the 24th week of the pregnancy that their child would be born with Arnold Chiari Type II syndrome - a structural defect in the brain.

Since abortions in India are allowed only up to 20 weeks of pregnancy, the couple petitioned India’s Supreme Court to allow them a to terminate the pregnancy, which was by then 27 weeks. The court rejected their plea.

Continued at source: Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/india-women-abortion/not-a-womans-choice-indias-abortion-limit-puts-women-at-risk-say-campaigners-idUSL8N1LE26E

India: KEM hospital panel that ruled out abortion of foetus with neurological problems did not have subject specialist

KEM hospital panel that ruled out abortion of foetus with neurological problems did not have subject specialist

Mumbai city news: Child born after Supreme Court turned down plea to abort pregnancy in critical condition at KEM hospital
Jul 06, 2017
Sadaguru Pandit
Hindustan Times

Last Saturday, a 28-year-old woman gave birth to a boy with Arnold Chiari Syndrome Type-II — fluid accumulation in the brain and spinal deformities that leave him little chance of survival. She and her husband had moved the Supreme Court to be allowed to abort her pregnancy in the 27th week once they knew about the problems the foetus had, but the court had on March 27 turned down their plea based on the report of an expert team of doctors from Mumbai’s KEM hospital. The child is now in a critical condition at the KEM hospital where he was born. The law now prohibits abortion of foetus beyond 20th weeks, unless otherwise advised by a medical panel.

Continued at source: Hindustan Times: http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/kem-hospital-panel-that-ruled-out-abortion-of-foetus-with-neurological-problems-did-not-have-subject-specialist/story-p7kOo6vTwGPFMQ1uU3rydO.html

06.07.2017

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Arnold Chiari Syndrome

Dr Nikhil Datar

Dr. Avinash Supe

Dr. Devi Shetty

fatal fetal abnormality

KEM Hospital

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

Kolkata, India: Legal battle won, woman starts abortion process

Kolkata: Legal battle won, woman starts abortion process

Prithvijit Mitra
Jul 5, 2017

KOLKATA: The woman, who was allowed by the Supreme Court to terminate her 26-week pregnancy, got admitted to SSKM Hospital on Tuesday. She will have her foetus - afflicted with an irreversible cardiac ailment - aborted by a non-surgical procedure that may take to two days. The procedure will be supervised by the seven-member expert committee formed last week to assess the condition of the foetus.

Continued at source: Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/legal-battle-won-woman-starts-abortion-process/articleshow/59447422.cms

05.07.2017

News

Dr. Devi Shetty

fatal fetal abnormality

Doctors want reform in Indian abortion law

Doctors want reform in Indian abortion law

Maitri Porecha
Wed, 5 Jul 2017

Supreme Court’s decision to allow a woman to abort a 26-week-old foetus diagnosed with incurable heart anomalies is in favour of women’s rights, doctors assert. The present law does not allow termination of pregnancy after 20 weeks of gestation, except in exceptional cases. Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act prohibits abortion of a foetus after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

In this Kolkata’s woman’s case, in her 21st week of pregnancy, an ultrasonography picked up pulmonary atresia, a condition in which blood vessels supplying blood to the heart are absent.

Continued at source: DNA India: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-doctors-want-reform-in-indian-abortion-law-2492081

05.07.2017

fatal fetal abnormality

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

India: SC notice to govt on abortion deadline

SC notice to govt on abortion deadline
Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN | Jun 22, 2017

NEW DELHI: Delay in amending the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act to provide women a wider window to abort terminally ill fetuses is forcing many to move the Supreme Court for permission to end their pregnancies that are beyond the legally permissible termination period of 20 weeks.

The SC on Wednesday sought the Centre's response to a petition by a Kolkata-based pregnant woman challenging the validity of Section 3 of the MTP Act, 1971, which says pregnancy cannot be terminated after 20 weeks.

Continued at source: Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sc-notice-to-govt-on-abortion-deadline/articleshow/59261029.cms

22.06.2017