‘Imagine the pain and humiliation’: Supreme Court urges Center to allow rape survivors to have abortions after 20 weeks

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday withdrew the Center and asked it to consider amending the law to allow rape survivors to terminate unwanted pregnancies even after 20 weeks.While hearing the AIIMS seeking quashing of the order allowing medical termination of 30-week pregnancy of a 15-year-old girl, Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said there should be no time limit when pregnancy occurs due to rape.“The law must be organic and keep pace with the evolving times,” the Supreme Court said. The judge said this was a case of child rape and that if the pregnancy was not terminated, the survivors would be left with lifelong scars and trauma. It added that the mother was not permanently disabled so the treatment should be carried out.It also asked AIIMS to counsel the parents of survivors on the issue and said the decision must be taken by the concerned persons.“There are children who need adoption. We have a lot of compassion in this country… There are abandoned children on the streets and even the mafia. We have to pay attention to them. This is an unexpected pregnancy in a 15-year-old child.”“This is a therapeutic petition. Unplanned pregnancy cannot be forced on a person. Imagine she is a child. She should be studying now. But we want to make her a mother. Imagine the pain and humiliation the child must suffer for this,” the bench said.Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who was present at AIIMS, mentioned the treatment plea and said termination of pregnancy was not possible.“This will be a live baby with severe deformities. The teenage mother will face lifelong health problems and be unable to have children. Teen mothers face lifelong health problems. The child could be given up for adoption. It’s now 30 weeks. It’s a viable life now,” she said.The Supreme Court said the decision to terminate a pregnancy must be taken by the survivor and her parents and AIIMS can help them take an informed decision.On April 24, a bench of BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan allowed the girl to undergo medical termination of her 30-week pregnancy.