Politics · India · 1 hr ago
Supreme Court says marital dispute alone is not grounds for abortion
India's Supreme Court is hearing a woman's request to end her 25-week pregnancy, which her husband opposes.
The couple have been married for six months, and the woman says she does not want to continue the pregnancy or the marriage.
The court said marital discord alone is not grounds for termination, noting that the foetus is healthy and there is no medical reason for an abortion.
Her lawyer said continuing the pregnancy would cause severe mental distress, while the husband said he would care for the child after birth.
The dispute also involves allegations about the woman's character, which her husband was asked to withdraw, including claims shared on a family WhatsApp group.
The court directed him to apologise and withdraw his allegations in an affidavit.
The case is due back before the court on November 4.
The Supreme Court said marital discord alone is not grounds to terminate a pregnancy.
The case concerns a woman seeking to end her 25-week pregnancy and her husband opposing the request.
The court said there was no medical reason for termination and noted that the foetus was healthy and the woman was medically fit.
It directed the husband to file an affidavit withdrawing allegations against his wife and to apologise.
The matter was posted for November 4.
- Who
- A woman seeking an abortion and her husband, who opposes it; the case is before a Supreme Court bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan.
- What
- The court said marital discord alone is not grounds to terminate a pregnancy and directed the husband to withdraw allegations against his wife.
- When
- The hearing took place on Monday; the case was posted for November 4.
- Where
- The Supreme Court of India, in New Delhi.
- Why
- The woman sought to end her pregnancy amid marital discord and said continuing it would cause mental trauma. Her husband opposed termination.
The woman seeking termination
The husband opposing termination
Pregnancy
The woman seeking termination
She did not want to continue the pregnancy and said doing so would cause immense mental trauma.
The husband opposing termination
He opposed termination and said he would take and care for the child after birth.
Marital relationship
The woman seeking termination
She did not wish to continue the marriage.
The husband opposing termination
He said he wanted to preserve the relationship and denied circulating a WhatsApp message about her character.
The court urged the estranged couple to give their six-month-old marriage another chance.
The Supreme Court heard the woman's plea to terminate her 25-week pregnancy and directed her husband to withdraw his allegations against her.
The court posted the matter for further consideration after allowing the husband to file an affidavit.
- Pregnancy
- 25 weeks, described in the Times of India as over six months
- Bench
- Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan
- Court direction
- Husband to file an affidavit withdrawing allegations against his wife
- Next hearing
- November 4
- Medical assessment
- The foetus was healthy and the woman was medically fit
2 sources
What people are saying
Because of a bitter exchange of words, we cannot allow termination of pregnancy. Your ego kills everything
It is normal that wife talks against husband and husband talks against wife but it does not mean that you have to terminate the pregnancy on that ground.