Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Foto di DICSON su Unsplash
New Delhi (Fides News Agency) – “We are pleased with this positive outcome in the case of the 15-year-old pregnant girl, as she did not have an abortion. We hope that she and the child remain in good health and we guarantee them our full psychological and moral support,” Fr. Mathew Koyickal, Deputy Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI, which brings together the Indian bishops of three rites), told Fides. This refers to the case of the 15-year-old girl's early pregnancy, for which the Supreme Court of India, at the request of the girl's parents, had issued an order for the voluntary termination of the pregnancy of a 30-week-old fetus. The Catholic Church in India had expressed its anguish, pleading for the child, a fully viable fetus, to be saved, raising the issue of the rights of the unborn (see Fides, 5/5/2026).
According to information sent to Fides, doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, through labor induction, assisted in the birth of the premature baby, weighing approximately 1.4 kg, who is now in the neonatal intensive care unit. The mother is in areasonably good health and will soon be discharged from the hospital. The newborn is in the neonatal intensive care unit on life support and is at high risk of suffering significant and permanent long-term disabilities, such as blindness, deafness, and neurodevelopmental delays. “We can say that, in this case, the lives of the child and the mother have been saved, but the underlying issue remains and will continue to be raised in the future, given the numerous cases of unwanted pregnancies, particularly those involving minors,” the deputy secretary of the CBCI told Fides.
The Supreme Court has called on policymakers to amend the law regulating abortion in India to address these cases. Often, the families of young women only learn of the pregnancy when the fetus is already several weeks along, beyond the legal limit for abortion (24 weeks). The family is left with no option but to seek legal authorization, and the Court has confirmed that it is up to the girls' parents to make an “informed choice” about a possible abortion, considering that “unwanted pregnancies can be a burden and a trauma for the minor.” In cases of early motherhood, one can speak of "child rape," and "the victim will forever bear a scar and trauma," the Chief Justice stated. Regarding this matter, lawyers, doctors, and Catholic bishops have pointed out the "serious legal and ethical implications" of the issue. Bishop Mathew Koyickal reminded everyone: "India is a civilization, not simply a state." The moral wisdom contained in ancient Indian scriptural and philosophical traditions speaks with unequivocal authority about the sanctity of life in the womb. The Indian Church invokes this shared civil heritage today to affirm that the protection of unborn life is not the monopoly of a single religious tradition, but the common heritage of all the Indian people." In this regard, he continued: "We call upon Parliament to revise the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 in order to establish clear and enforceable legal protections for unborn but fully viable children." The first duty of the State is the protection of human life. The law must never become an instrument of violence against the most defenseless members of the human family. The priest clarifies: “Our position on the sanctity of life does not imply indifference to human suffering. Rather, it arises from the deepest respect for the dignity of every human person, whether born or unborn. The suffering of one person—such as that of a young mother—is not alleviated by the deliberate destruction of another. This is the perennial wisdom of the Church, confirmed both by natural law and by the moral tradition of every great civilization that respects and honors the sanctity of life.” (PA) (Fides News Agency, 6/5/2026)
