Pregnant Minor's Willingness To Retain Pregnancy Prevails Over Her Mother's Plea To Terminate It: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court dismissed a petition filed by a mother seeking termination of pregnancy of her minor daughter (17 years, 5 months old) in light of the daughter's unwillingness to abort the pregnancy, upholding the right of a pregnant minor victim to retain her pregnancy.Highlighting that the minor victim had sufficient level of understanding about the consequences of her actions, the bench of Justice Chandra Prakash Shrimali observed that pregnant woman had the autonomy over her body and it was only she who had the right to choose whether to terminate the pregnancy or not. It was the case of the petitioner that her minor daughter was kidnapped and raped resulting in her pregnancy, and being a minor, she was incapable of making informed decision about her body and health. It was further argued that consent of a minor rape victim was not mandatory for medical termination of pregnancy. On the contrary, it was submitted on behalf of the State that as per the records the minor victim had went with the accused out of her own free will, and the pregnancy was the result of consensual intercourse between them and not forceful act of the accused. It was further submitted that the girl had categorically expressed her unwillingness to terminate the pregnancy despite being fully aware that she would be solely responsible for the child's upbringing. After hearing the contentions, the Court framed the issued, “Whether the consent of natural guardian for termination of pregnancy of minor daughter can be accepted when the pregnant minor daughter herself is not agreeable for such termination?”, and answered this in negative upholding the right of a pregnant minor victim to retain her pregnancy. Based on the material on record, the Court highlighted that considering the minor girl's unwillingness to terminate the pregnancy and willingness to raise the child on her own reflected that she clearly understood the social and economical factors associated with raising a child. Hence, if her consent was ignored completely, it would lead to forceful termination of her pregnancy leading to grave mental and physical trauma to her. The Court further stated that,“Section 3(4)(a) of the MTP Act provides for taking consent of natural guardian for termination of pregnancy, however, the said act does not shed the light on a situation where there is a divergence in the view of minor and her guardian, therefore, this leaves plethora of gates open for interpretation by the Court as per the facts and circumstances of the case.”Reference was made to the Supreme Court case of Suchita Srivastava & Anr. Vs. Chandigarh Administration wherein it was held that right to make reproductive choices was a facet of Art. 21, and the consent of the pregnant women in the matter of such choices was paramount. No entity, even the state, could speak on behalf of the pregnant person and usurp her consent. In this background, considering minor girl's unwillingness to terminate the pregnancy, it was held that the consent of the pregnant women prevailed over the consent given by her guardian. The State was directed to bear all medical expenses of the minor girl and provide her with proper medical facilities for delivery. Further, Rajasthan Legal Service Authority and District Legal Service Authority were directed to pay suitable compensation to her under Rajasthan Victim Compensation Scheme, 2011. Accordingly, the petition was dismissed.Title: X v The State of Rajasthan & Ors. Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 219Click Here To Read/Download Order

Pregnant Minor's Willingness To Retain Pregnancy Prevails Over Her Mother's Plea To Terminate It: Rajasthan High Court

Nupur Agrawal

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