NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to allow a woman’s plea for medical termination of her pregnancy which was over six months along citing marital discord with her husband.The case came before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan, which had expressed concern over the request during an earlier hearing on Monday.The woman’s husband opposed the termination, arguing that he too had a right over the unborn child and was willing to take care of the baby after birth.The bench said the case was different from those involving rape, sexual assault or foetal abnormalities, where termination may be permitted under the law.It questioned whether marital discord or alleged mistreatment by a husband and in-laws could, by itself, be grounds for ending an advanced pregnancy.“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. It is not a case of sexual assault or single woman becoming pregnant. Where are we heading as a society if the wife says that she wants termination of pregnancy because of her fight with the husband and in-laws…
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What about the right of the father,” the bench had said on Monday.The woman, who appeared before the bench virtually, said she did not want to continue the pregnancy and wanted a divorce. Her husband, however, urged the court not to allow the termination. He told the bench that he would take custody of the child after birth and look after it.
