When I was in medical college, we used to study the MTP act in Obstetrics and Gynecology. This act was passed in 1971 and amended in 2002. There are several provisions and one of them is that is this 20 weeks time limit. I would say it is time to change this act. This child is going to be born with congenital heart block. That means that this child will require permanent pacemakers which have to be replaced every 4-5 years depending on its battery life. It is not easy to do this. Pacemakers are expensive and replacing them every 4 years is also expensive. Apart from that, the court should also consider the emotional trauma and suffering the child and the family will suffer for rest of their lives. Could this child perform all the usual strenous activities that other adults would perform when he/she becomes an adult? Would someone marry him/her with this condition? When the doctors are saying that they are not sure whether the child will need a cardiac surgery or not, how can they deny abortion? They say that there are LEAST CHANCES OF SUFFERING SERIOUS HANDICAPS. So in other words there are at least some chances of suffering some degree of handicaps which the child has to live with. In any case, a person has a complete right over his/her own body and in this case the mother has. Child is hers. She has to bear the pain. It is not easy for a mother to say I want to abort my child. When she says that there must be a strong reason and we have it in this case. Time to change laws.
