In Brief

A 27-year-old married woman with post-partum depression sought Supreme Court permission to terminate her pregnancy at 26 weeks, which exceeded the statutory 24-week limit under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. After medical examination revealed a viable foetus with no abnormalities and a reasonable chance of survival, and after a split verdict in the lower bench, the three-judge bench held that termination could not be permitted beyond 24 weeks without substantial foetal abnormalities or immediate life-saving necessity. The Court directed normal delivery at the appropriate time with all costs covered by the government and affirmed the parents' autonomy regarding adoption.

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