India SC upholds 15-year-old assault survivor's abortion

India's Supreme Court on Thursday declined a curative petition filed by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences challenging its earlier order permitting a 15-year-old assault survivor to terminate her 30-week pregnancy. The bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, upheld the decision while urging the central government to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act to eliminate time limits for terminations in cases of assault, particularly involving minors.

The ruling came during proceedings on the AIIMS plea, which sought to overturn a April 24 order by Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan. That bench had authorized the procedure, stating that denying termination based on gestational age or fetal viability would undermine the minor's right to bodily autonomy.

In passionate observations, Chief Justice Kant emphasized the profound trauma faced by the survivor. "Imagine she is a child. She should be studying now. But we want to make her a mother. Imagine the pain, the humiliation the child has suffered in this," the bench remarked. It stressed that in child assault cases, the choice to continue or terminate must rest with the victim,...