Teen Pregnancy
‘Let’s not choose for people capable of choosing’: Supreme Court to Centre on teen pregnancy termination
New Delhi/IBNS: Upholding women’s rights over their bodies, the Supreme Court of India on Thursday came down heavily on the Centre over its curative plea challenging an earlier order that allowed a 15-year-old rape survivor to terminate her 31-week pregnancy, media reports said.
Court backs reproductive autonomy
The top court reaffirmed the primacy of individual choice and urged the government to revisit existing legal restrictions in such cases.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said, “Nothing can compensate the agony she suffered after the rape,” as quoted by NDTV.
“We respect individual choices and so should you…,” Justice Joymalya Bagchi told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati.
Govt told not to dictate decisions
The court asked the Centre to guide the victim’s parents with medical advice on possible health risks instead of imposing decisions on them.
“Let us not choose for people capable of choosing,” the bench observed.
Centre’s stand questioned
The remarks came after the government argued that termination at this stage was not feasible and suggested delivery followed by adoption as the only option.
The court, however, had last week permitted the termination, underscoring that a woman’s reproductive autonomy must remain paramount.
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