India, June 27 -- Observing that an unmarried woman has the right to exercise her bodily autonomy, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed a student to medically terminate her unwanted 26-week pregnancy. The court held that forcing her to continue it despite fears of social stigma would cause grave psychological harm.

A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande passed the order on Wednesday after considering a report from the medical board at Sir JJ Hospital. The board said the pregnancy could be terminated if the court found that compelling the woman to continue with the unwanted pregnancy would cause grave and irreparable harm to her mental health.

The woman approached the court stating that she had conceived...