The Bombay High Court has allowed a mother in her 25th week of pregnancy to terminate the pregnancy after doctors opined that the foetus had developed neurological and skeletal abnormalities, and the chance of it surviving was doubtful. The court has asked the termination be carried out on Tuesday at JJ Hospital. The 28-year-old woman had approached the HC on November 3, through advocate Meenaz Kakalia, claiming that the pregnancy has gone beyond the limit of 20 weeks permissible for abortion to be carried out. Further, it was argued that during an ultrasonography conducted on October 12, doctors detected that the foetus, with gestational age corresponding to 22 weeks 4 days, suffered from various anomalies. The ultrasonography report had said neural tube defect is seen at the dorso-lumbar junction, and meningomyelocele is seen. Meningomyelocele is a type of spina bifida, or a birth defect in which the spinal canal and the backbone do not close before the baby is born. This type of birth defect is also called a neural tube defect. The report also stated that secondary brain changes of hydrocephalus and Arnold Chiari malformation are noted. Following this, the High Court had asked a medical board of JJ Hospital, including the Dean, head of the department (gynaecology), professor and HOD of pediatric cardiac surgeon, professor and HOD of radiology and psychology and any other expert in the field to examine her. After going through a report from the medical board, a bench of Justice Shantanu Kemkar and Justice GS Kulkarni said, "We have gone through the exhaustive report and opinions of medical experts. After evaluation, the report has concluded that there are multiple serious neurological and skeletal abnormalities in the foetus. It seems certain from the report that if the pregnancy is continued, the baby would have a limited life and may not even grow into an adult. Hence, we deem it appropriate to permit the petitioner to undergo medical termination of the foetus." After passing of the order, the court also inquired whether the Union Government has formed medical committees and prepared medico-legal guidelines for a permanent mechanism for the termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks in exceptional cases involving rape survivors and women with an abnormal foetus. To this, advocate DP Singh, appearing for the Union Government said that all state governments have been instructed to set up district-level committees, as mandated by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.