Couple's abortion plea sparks ethics debate | Your say

A FIGHT FOR LIFE: Niketa and Haresh Mehta are caught in the media glare because of their plea.

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Mumbai: A couple in Mumbai has petitioned the High Court for permission to abort their 24-week foetus as it has been diagnosed with a congenital heart disease.

The existing law does not permit abortion more than 20 weeks after conception. The court is expected to give its verdict on Monday.

Niketa and Haresh Mehta, meanwhile, are caught in the media glare with the problem no one seems to have the answer to.

The couple feels their child will never have the chance for a normal life.

“All I want is a healthy child, whatever the sex, the child should be healthy,” says Nikita.

The couple's doctor Nikhil Datar says most cardiac problems are diagnosed between 20 and 24 weeks after conception.

“As soon as baby is born, it'll have to be fitted with pacemaker .The pacemaker will have to be replaced every four years, so what kind of life will the child have?” Datar says.

The Bombay High Court directed the J J Hospital to examine Niketa and prepare a report on her condition. But that report too has been ambivalent.

Even the committee of doctors appointed by the court does not want to take a stand on the issue. On the one hand, the report does not recommend the termination of pregnancy but on the other, it also says there are fair chances the child may be born incapacitated and with no chance for a normal life.

But other city doctors feel the child should be given a chance. “The child may have a normal life , it should be given the right to live,” says Mumbai-based gynaecologist, Mahendra Patel.

As doctors and the court struggle to find an answer, time is running out for the couple and their unborn child.