Abortion legislation is being criticised after a woman has been sentenced to 2 years in prison for an induced abortion after taking more than the legal limit of pills
Existing abortion legislation is being questioned by members of parliament after an incident of a woman having an abortion too late into her pregnancy.
While abortion is legal up to 24 weeks, after 10 weeks the procedure must be carried out in a clinic.
However, Due to COVID-19, a woman from Stoke-on-Trent has claimed her 32 to 34-week pregnancy was unable to be terminated by a professional and took pills to end her abort the foetus instead.
She was then sentenced to two years in prison, sparking an outcry among women’s rights organisations and campaigners in the UK.
The defendant has three children who will suffer from her imprisonment
As doctors concluded the foetus was from 32 to 34 weeks’ gestation at the time of termination, the 44-year-old woman was taken to Stoke-on-Trent crown court to explain the circumstances of her 2019 pregnancy.
She noted that she had arranged a telephone consultation with BPAS in May 2020, but since lockdown had limited face-to-face appointments, she had a lack of access to healthcare and instead searched for information online.
This abortion legislation dates back to 1861
Originally, she had pleaded not guilty to a charge of an offence of child destruction, and the judge accepted she was “in emotional turmoil” as she sought to hide the pregnancy.
After pleading guilty in March under the Offences against the Person Act – which is abortion legislation that dates back to 1861 – she will now serve half of her 28-month sentence in custody and the remaining under licence.
Abortion in Great Britain has never actually been fully decriminalised
Women are still facing police investigations and potential imprisonment under current abortion legislation.
These cases of abortions being criminalised have risen over the past three years, according to BPAS. As seen in 2022, when a woman who used abortion medication in a failed attempt to end her own pregnancy was reported to the police by her medical team.
According to Humanists UK, in the Great Britain, abortion remains a crime in England and Wales under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
In 1967, a compromise was made that created a legal defence, provided that a woman had the sign-off of two doctors and other similar regulations.
The only part of the UK where abortion is fully decriminalised is Northern Ireland, where the new law was passed in 2019 by the UK Parliament to reflect the recommendations of the UN Committee for Elimination of Discrimination Against Women report on the UK.
Foundations like Humanists UK have been campaigning to change abortion legislation from the criminal code to the civil law to guard against the possibility of a woman in vulnerable circumstances – such as those facing domestic violence – could be prosecuted against with the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act for abortion.
“The woman needed ‘family and support’ rather than a jail term”
The defence, Barry White, said the woman needed “family and support” rather than a jail term. As the defendant has three children, one of which with a disability, the sentence threatens her existing family.
Judge Mr Justice Edward Pepperall, who sentenced the woman, noted that it was a “tragic” case, saying that if she had pleaded guilty earlier, he may have been able to consider suspending her jail sentence.
He said the defendant was “wracked by guilt” and had suffered depression and said she was a good mother to three children, one of whom has special needs, who would suffer from her imprisonment.
The abortion legislation was “very out of date”
Caroline Nokes, the Conservative chair of the Commons women and equalities committee, said the abortion legislation was “very out of date” and should be overhauled.
The UK has jailed a woman who took *legal* abortion pills too late in her pregnancy.
I said: The UK has jailed a woman who took *legal* abortion pills too late in her pregnancy!
She leaves three children at home. We should be ashamed of ourselves.
— Ava-Santina (@AvaSantina) June 12, 2023
The Crown Prosecution Service said: “These exceptionally rare cases are complex and traumatic. Our prosecutors have a duty to ensure that laws set by Parliament are properly considered and applied when making difficult charging decisions.”
When asked whether the prime minister was confident criminalising abortion in some circumstances was the right approach, Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said: “Our laws as they stand, balance a woman’s right to access safe and legal abortions with the rights of an unborn child. I’m not aware of any plans to address that approach.”
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