Calls for abortion law in England to be changed after couple convicted of buying pills
The prosecution of a young couple who were given community orders at Gloucester Crown Court more than six years after the stillbirth of a baby has led to renewed calls for reform of abortion law in England.
Sophie Harvey and Elliot Benham, both now 25, were originally arrested on suspicion of murder after disposing of a stillborn fetus.
The couple, each 19 years old at the time, had requested a termination due to an unwanted pregnancy, before discovering that Harvey was “too far gone” – outside the legal timeframe – with a pregnancy estimated at around 28 weeks and five days would last.
At Gloucester Crown Court on Wednesday, barrister Anna Vigars said that after being denied a legal abortion, Benham had looked for alternatives online, adding: “Some of them are medications, some of them are herbal, none of them are legal.”
Benham admitted ordering illegal abortion drugs by mail, although the couple claimed Harvey never took them and that the baby was stillborn before the tablets arrived.
They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obtain a poison with intent to induce a miscarriage, and a second count of attempting to conceal the birth of a child.
Abortion is illegal under English law and punishable by up to life in prison, but the Abortion Act 1967 outlines certain scenarios in which an abortion can be legally performed, with the approval of two doctors.
The term is 24 weeks in most cases, but in some situations there is no limit, for example when the fetus has a fatal abnormality or when the mother’s life is in danger.
Sentencing the pair, Judge Lawrie said they had been traumatized by the lengthy criminal trial, which saw the jury dismissed in a trial against them after inaccurate reporting of the proceedings by the BBC.
“It has been a long and painful journey,” the judge said, adding: “The impact on your lives has been traumatic and I am sure it will continue for some time.”
An attempt earlier this year to change the law through amendments to the last Conservative government’s criminal justice bill failed when none were put to a vote.
It followed the prosecution of several women accused of illegally taking abortion pills, most notably Carla Foster, who was jailed.
With this week’s ruling, and some predicting the new Labor government’s Crime and Policing Bill will come before Parliament as early as January, renewed calls for changes to the law have begun.
“Whatever your views on abortion, it is never in the public interest for anyone to be prosecuted for terminating their own pregnancy,” said Louise McCudden, head of external affairs at MSI Reproductive Choices, a leading provider of abortion services in Britain. : “These Victorian laws have been on the statute books for a century and a half – and have real consequences today.
“The young woman at the center of this disturbing story needed compassion and advice she could trust, not criminal charges and public shaming. Had she received support at an earlier stage, this painful outcome might have been avoided.”
Heidi Stewart, director of the UK Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: “Prosecuting women for trying to end their pregnancies is never in the public interest. This case exposes the harmful and unnecessary criminalization of women under laws written more than 160 years ago.
“Instead of compassion and support, this young woman has faced stigma, shame and a lengthy legal process that has disrupted her life for years.”
Jemima Olchawski, the chief executive of the Fawcett Society, a gender equality and women’s rights charity, said: “Restricting women’s access to abortion puts our health and our lives at risk. No woman should be forced to continue a pregnancy against her will.
“It can never be in the public interest to prosecute in these types of cases – abortion is health care and women seeking health care should not be criminalized. The law that made this possible is so old that it predates women’s suffrage – it is in no way fit for purpose in today’s Britain.”
Dr. Jonathan Lord, of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers, said: “The law is causing life-changing harm to vulnerable women and girls.
“What is happening, the horrific way women are treated – including women with premature deliveries and natural subsequent pregnancy losses – is a national scandal.
Labor MP Stella Creasy, who tabled the proposed amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill, is also continuing to push for changes to the law. “It is time to decriminalize abortion and recognize that this is a health care issue,” she said.