In Brief
A 22-year-old pregnant woman sought Supreme Court permission to terminate her pregnancy after discovering the fetus had anencephaly—a fatal condition where the skull fails to form—which endangered her life. The Court held that a woman's right to bodily integrity and reproductive autonomy under Article 21 permits termination when medical evidence shows continuation gravely endangers her life or health and the fetus cannot survive outside the womb. The Medical Board confirmed the fetus could not survive extra-uterine life and continuation posed grave risk to the mother's physical and mental health. The Court allowed the termination, recognizing the mother's paramount right to preserve her own life.
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