MUMBAI, Nov. 13 -- The Bombay High Court permitted a 17-year-old sexual assault survivor to terminate her 28-week pregnancy, observing that the right to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term is "firmly rooted" in a woman's bodily autonomy and forcing her to continue an unwanted pregnancy causes "visceral trauma." On November 9, a vacation bench of Justices Advait M Sethna and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale allowed the Class 12 student's plea after interacting with her and reviewing a medical board report from Sir JJ Group of Hospitals. The minor stated she was psychologically unprepared to bear a child. She alleged that a 19-year-old acquaintance sexually assaulted her while she was alone at home. Discovering her seven-month pregnancy on November 2, she filed an FIR at Bhoiwada police station under the Pocso Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. JJ Hospital's medical board noted no lethal congenital anomalies in the foetus and confirmed the procedure was feasible with court approval. The minor's father stated she was underage, medically fit, and worried about her future, while her lawyer cited her right to dignity and reproductive freedom under Article 21 of the Constitution. Although the judges warned that the foetus could be born alive and need intensive care, the parents cited financial inability to raise a newborn, and the minor remained determined to terminate. Relying on a Supreme Court ruling establishing the irrelevance of foetal viability when a woman has detached herself from an unwanted pregnancy, the court authorised the procedure at Sir JJ Hospital. It directed that if the child is born alive and the minor opts for adoption, the state must assume complete responsibility, ensuring the infant is never neglected, and arrange foster care or legal adoption....