Does a woman with intellectual disability have no right to become a mother? high court

Mumbai – A woman with intellectual disability has no right to become a mother? Bombay High Court has raised such a question. The hearing was going on on the application filed by the father of the 27-year-old woman. The petition sought permission to abort the 21-week-old fetus as she is mentally handicapped and unmarried. However, in the petition the father also said that his daughter however wants to continue the pregnancy.

Last week, the court had directed the medical board of JJ Hospital to examine the woman and submit the report. According to the report presented in the court on Wednesday, the woman is not mentally unstable or ill but has been found to have borderline intellectual disability with an IQ of 75 per cent.

The court said the woman’s guardian did not provide her psychological counseling or treatment and kept her only on medication since 2011. The medical board report also said that no abnormality or deformity was found in the fetus and the woman was also medically healthy. However, the report also states that miscarriage may also occur.

The court noted the medical board’s report that the woman was not mentally handicapped or insane but her intelligence was below normal. No one can be very intelligent. The court said, we are all human beings and all have different levels of intelligence.

Because a woman’s intelligence is below average, she has no right to become a mother? The court said that this is against the law. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act provides for termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks in cases where the woman is mentally ill.

Borderline cases cannot be considered mental illness. In such a situation, a woman cannot be made mentally ill. The petitioner’s counsel informed the court that the woman had given her parents the identity of the man with whom she had an affair who was responsible for her pregnancy.

The court has asked the woman’s parents to talk to her about whether the man is willing to marry her or not. The court said, both are adults, this is not a crime, being a parent you can do only this much.

The court had earlier said that the woman was adopted by the couple when she was five months old, so they should have been aware of their duty as parents. The court has fixed the hearing on January 13.