The Uttarakhand High Court has allowed a 13-year-old rape survivor to terminate her 25 weeks of pregnancy.
The order was passed on Wednesday by the bench of senior judge Sanjay Mishra. The abortion will be done under the supervision of the medical board, the court said and issued instructions to form a team of specialist doctors.
The father of the rape survivor had filed a petition in the high court seeking directions to the Dehradun chief medical officer and the Doon Hospital for an optimum procedure. The victim had also granted permission for the procedure.
Citing the decisions of the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court permitting an abortion in such cases and the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971, the Uttarakhand High Court allowed the girl to terminate her 25 week pregnancy as she was a minor and an unwanted pregnancy could be harmful for her mental growth. The next hearing in the case has been fixed for December 9 for checking the progress in the matter.
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(With PTI inputs)
