MUMBAI, Sept. 16 -- The Bombay High Court has sought a response from the Maharashtra government on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging a government resolution (GR) directing rape survivors, minors, and persons with disabilities seeking medical termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks to approach courts. A division bench of chief justice Maheshchandra Tripathi and justice Advait Sethna on Friday said that "forcing a minor rape victim or a person with mental disabilities to navigate complex legal machinery, locate advocates, and wait for judicial listings inflicts deep psychological and physical trauma". The petition, filed by the Medico Legal Society of India, states that the June 2024 GR shifts the executive and clinical burden entirely onto the judiciary and creates an adversarial legal barrier for victims of trauma during a time-sensitive medical situation. It says that the GR explicitly bars medical boards from offering an expert clinical opinion on survivors of sexual assault or minors who are beyond 24 weeks of pregnancy, prompting the state to effectively abdicate its primary administrative duties and offload them entirely onto the high court. Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, termination is permitted only up to 24 weeks, subject to certain conditions. The PIL also highlights a critical systemic vacuum due to the complete absence of a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) governing the clinical, ethical, and logistical realities of late-term MTPs. It says the absence of an SOP has led to conflicting judicial pronouncements, uncertainty regarding foeticide versus pre-term delivery, and unresolved legal, ethical, and financial liabilities. The association also cites a series of conflicting court orders in cases involving pregnancies beyond 24 weeks to highlight the uncertainties faced by doctors and patients. It also refers to a Supreme Court order from 2023 that refused termination at 26 weeks, after noting that the foetus was viable....