As a woman is jailed, UK urged to reform ‘outdated’ abortion laws
Women’s rights groups, politicians and medical professionals are calling on the UK government to reform abortion laws after a woman was jailed for taking pills to terminate her pregnancy past the 24-week limit.
The 44-year-old mother of three was mailed the drug during a COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, a scheme introduced during the pandemic as many in-person services were closed due to social distancing measures.
A court heard this week that she had misled Britain’s Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) about how far along she was in pregnancy, in order to secure the pills.
On Monday, she was sentenced to 28 months in prison after admitting to aborting her pregnancy when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant.
Abortions in Britain are legal before 24 weeks and must be performed in clinics after 10 weeks of pregnancy.
The prosecution said that between February and May 2020, the woman searched the Internet for “how to hide a pregnancy belly”, “how to have an abortion without going to the doctor” and “how to lose a baby at six months”.
She also pleaded guilty to an alternative charge relating to a law that is over 160 years old – Section 58 of the Offenses Against the Person Act 1861.
She will serve half her sentence in prison and the remaining time under duress, supervised on probation.
Calls for an end to a law described as outdated are on the rise.
Dame Diana Johnson, chair of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, urged the government to “step up” and decriminalize abortions.
Harriet Wistrich, head of the Center for Women’s Justice (CWJ), questioned the legislation and the prosecution of the woman.
“What purpose is served by criminalizing and imprisoning this woman if, at best, she needs better access to health care and other support?” said Wistrich. “She is clearly already traumatized by the experience and now her children will be left without their mother for more than a year.”
Chiara Capraro, head of Amnesty International’s women’s human rights program, described the decision as “shocking and downright terrifying”.
“Access to abortion is essential health care and should be managed as such.”
Former Chief Prosecutor for the North West of England, Nazir Afzal, argued that prosecution was not in the public interest.
Citing public opinion about laws restricting abortion and its mitigating factors, he told the BBC: “Had I been involved, if I had done this particular case, I would not have prosecuted it.
“This whole horrible event happened during the pandemic and people made horrible choices during that time that they might now regret. And I think that’s one of the things I would have taken into account, in relation to this particular case.”
The judge presiding over the case, Judge Edward Pepperall, said: “This case concerns a woman’s tragic and unlawful decision to have a very late abortion.
“The balance struck by law between a woman’s reproductive right and the rights of her unborn fetus is an emotional and controversial issue. However, that is a matter for parliament and not for the courts.”
But some took to social media to share their outrage at the sentencing, with one woman saying the Crown Court’s decision was “depraved” and a “burning injustice”.
Nadia Whittome, a politician from the main opposition Labor Party, tweeted: “No woman should be in prison for making decisions about her own body. This shocking case highlights the urgent need to change the law. Abortion is healthcare. It needs to be decriminalized now.”
Sentencing a woman to 28 months in jail for having her own abortion, during the first lockdown when access to face to face medical care was beyond the mental strain of many, is depraved and disgraceful to the judge who just didn’t have it can do, disgrace disgrace and a burning injustice
— Seana Grant (@GrantSana) June 12, 2023
BPAS tweeted: “No woman can ever go through this again. We need abortion law reform in Britain NOW.”
Dame Diana, who has previously tried to repeal the 1861 legislation, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think Parliament now has a role to play in looking at reforming our abortion laws. There is no other country in the world, as I understand it, that would criminalize a woman in this way.”