The Supreme Court today refused permission to a woman to abort her 27-week-old foetus showing signs of severe physical abnormalities. <br/><br/>Referring to the report of the medical board, which has examined the woman, a bench of Justices S A Bobdey and L Nageshwara Rao said that as per the opinion of the doctors the baby may be born alive if the mother is allowed to abort at this stage.<br/><br/>The apex court also observed that as per the doctors' opinion the physical condition of the woman is normal and there is no risk to her health. <br/><br/>The court said that they don't consider it appropriate to direct the petitioner (woman) to terminate the foetus.<br/><br/>The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act prohibits termination of pregnancy after 20 weeks even if there is a fatal risk to the mother and the foetus.