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Marital discord no ground for termination of pregnancy: SC

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

An estranged woman petitioned the court for an abortion and a divorce, stating she did not wish to carry her more than six-month-old pregnancy to term. Her husband opposed the termination, offering instead to assume full custody and care of the child following birth. The bench attempted to dissuade the petitioner, ruling that domestic friction does not justify aborting a healthy foetus. To reduce animosity, the judges ordered the husband to file an affidavit retracting previous character attacks against his wife ahead of the next hearing on Wednesday.

Key points

  • Disagreements and domestic feuds between spouses do not qualify as legal grounds for an a…: Disagreements and domestic feuds between spouses do not qualify as legal grounds for an abortion.
  • Fathers retain recognized legal rights regarding an unborn child when pregnancies involve…: Fathers retain recognized legal rights regarding an unborn child when pregnancies involve no criminal assault or foetal abnormalities.
  • The bench ordered the husband to file an affidavit retracting previous allegations agains…: The bench ordered the husband to file an affidavit retracting previous allegations against his wife to promote rapprochement.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Supreme Court seeks reconciliation between estranged couple as it hears woman's plea to terminate over six-month pregnancy, opposed by her husband

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Monday found itself in a predicament on an abortion plea of a woman who sought its approval for termination of her over-six-month pregnancy over the discord with her husband, who opposed the plea on the ground that he also has a right over the unborn child.A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan said that termination of pregnancy can be allowed in case of rape and sexual assault or if there is some problem with the foetus, but a case like the present one stood on a different footing. It questioned where society would be headed if a woman could decide to abort on the ground that she was ill-treated or abused by her husband and in-laws.Stating that the child in the womb is because of love and the father has also a right over the unborn child, SC tried to pacify the petitioner to persuade her not to insist on abortion as…

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