The ethics debate: Should abortion laws be changed?

ALARMING NUMBERS: Two lakh infants are born with heart defects in India and 90 per cent cases end with death.

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New Delhi: As the Mehta abortion case snowballs into a nation-wide medical and ethical debate, many questions remain unanswered. Who should have the right to decide if the child should be aborted or not? Should it be the parents, or the law enforcement agencies?

Medical and legal experts give their views on the case.

The Mehtas' foetus is into its 25th week, but it has congenital heart problems and which is the reason for the parents not willing to give birth to the child.

"All I want is a healthy child, whatever the sex, the child should be healthy," says petitioner Niketa Mehta.

For this very wish, the Mehta couple has initiated a legal challenge to the 37-year-old abortion law of the country, which prevents abortion after the 20th week.

"It is going to be a trauma for the child and the parents. Who will look after my ailing child? Who will I ask for money repeatedly?" demands Niketa.

And unless the pregnancy constitutes a health risk for the mother, their plea to allow them to terminate a 24-week-old pregnancy has triggered a big debate in medical and legal circles.

"If the child is born with a serious medical problem, is it fair to allow the child to suffer through out his life?" questions Supreme Court advocate, Priya Hingorani.

Foetal abnormalities can be detected in the first trimester of pregnancy by simple ultrasounds, but congenital heart defects and other chromosomal anomalies can at best be confirmed only by the 20th to 24th week.

However, an abortion at this stage is not only illegal, it's also dangerous for the health of the mother.

"There was no law in place for the court to order termination of the pregnancy in a situation like this. The government can consider making this change in the future, but what can we do now?" ask Justice Majmudar and Justice Amjad Sayed.