• Exercising its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court permitted a 14-year-old rape survivor to undergo medical termination of her almost 30-week pregnancy, saying the welfare of the minor was of paramount importance. 

• The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the girl’s mother challenging the Bombay High Court order declining the prayer for termination of pregnancy.

• Setting aside the April 4 judgment of the Bombay High Court, the Supreme Court directed the dean of the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital (LTMGH) at Sion in Mumbai to set up a team of doctors immediately for aborting the foetus.

• On April 19, the Supreme Court had taken up the matter on an urgent basis and sought a fresh medical report after taking note of the fact that the High Court had relied upon the earlier report which did not deal with the impact of the pregnancy on the life of the minor and on the physical, mental and emotional well being of the girl.

What is Article 142?

• Article 142 is about the enforcement of decrees and orders of the Supreme Court.

• It deals with the Supreme Court’s power to exercise its jurisdiction and pass order for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.

• It states that, “The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or orders so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe.”

• Section 2 states that “Subject to the provisions of any law made in this behalf by Parliament, the Supreme Court shall, as respects the whole of the territory of India, have all and every power to make any order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any person, the discovery or production of any documents, or the investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself.”

Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

• India’s earliest reproductive laws date back to 1971. 

• The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 was enacted to provide for the termination of certain pregnancies by registered medical practitioners and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Act recognised the importance of safe, affordable, accessible abortion services to women who need to terminate pregnancy under certain specified conditions.

• But experts theorise that the driver of such a law in India was population control and not about granting bodily autonomy to women. But the law was pioneering as it introduced abortions in any form.

• As per the MTP Act, 1971, termination of pregnancy was permitted only up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Women requiring to terminate the pregnancy beyond 20 weeks had the legal recourse to approach the court of law in the event of foetal abnormalities and in the case of rape of minor and differently-abled women. 

• With the amendment to this law passed on March 16, 2021, the window for abortion was further increased. Now any woman (married or unmarried) can get a physician-monitored termination up to 20 weeks with the opinion of one registered medical practitioner and up to 24 weeks for special categories of pregnant women, such as rape or incest survivors, with approval of two registered doctors. The upper gestational limit of 24 weeks also does not apply for substantial foetal abnormalities.

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