Srinagar, Oct 16: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has directed Lalla Ded Hospital here to constitute a competent Medical Board and take immediate action on the request for medical termination of a pregnancy after serious foetal abnormalities were detected at nearly 32 weeks of gestation.
A bench of Justice Muhammad Yousuf Wani said this while deciding a legally wedded couple’s plea, seeking constitution of a Medical Board for examination of the woman and evaluation of the foetal abnormalities.
The court was informed that scans conducted at 12 weeks and six days on May 8 and 21 weeks and four days on July 26 had not shown any gross congenital anomaly. However, an ultrasound conducted on September 24, when the pregnancy had reached 31 weeks and six days, detected polyhydramnios, a large cystic structure in the foetal lumbar spine measuring about 83×72×82 mm, mild ventriculomegaly and findings suggestive of Arnold-Chiari Type-II malformation.
A Foetal MRI conducted on September 25 subsequently confirmed a large posterior spinal defect with a cystic sac measuring approximately 6×6.5×8.3 cm, consistent with open spinal dysraphism with a large myelomeningocele.
The medical records placed before the court showed that the prognosis regarding morbidity and mortality had been explained to the parents and that the mode and timing of termination was to be decided in consultation with the obstetrician. However, owing to the advanced gestational age, the couple approached the High Court.
The counsel for the government submitted that the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and the Rules of 2003 provide a mechanism for dealing with such cases and suggested that the woman be referred to Lalla Ded Hospital for examination by a competent Medical Board.
The Court observed that Section 3(2-B) of the MTP Act provides that the statutory gestational limits do not apply where termination is necessitated by substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by a Medical Board.
Accordingly, the court directed the Superintendent of Lalla Ded Hospital to constitute a competent Medical Board and take immediate consequential action based on its opinion regarding early medical termination through an approved medical procedure.
The court further directed that, if the termination is undertaken on the advice of the Medical Board and the baby is born alive, immediate neonatal ICU treatment should be provided within the hospital. It also directed that all requisite medical formalities, including the necessary consent, be completed.
Expressing concern over delays in such cases, the court observed that registered medical practitioners, particularly those working in medical colleges and district hospitals, often fail to discharge their statutory responsibilities under the MTP Act, leaving distressed women with no option but to approach courts.
The court stressed that where the statutory provisions are clear, Medical Boards constituted under the MTP Act should not unnecessarily avoid attending to emergent cases.
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