Global Courant
A woman who arranged an illegal abortion by taking medication has been jailed.
The woman, who has not been named, had three sons before becoming pregnant in 2019. She did not speak to her doctor because she was ashamed, Stoke-on-Trent crown court was told on Monday.
The 44-year-old called the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) during the coronavirus lockdown in May 2020 and lied about how many months she was. BPAS then sent her abortion drugs.
The woman made a number of online searches between February and May 2020, including “how to hide pregnancy”, “how to have an abortion without going to the doctor” and “how to lose a baby in the sixth month”.
Five days after calling BPAS, on May 11, 2020, the woman ended up in the emergency room. The newborn baby was not breathing and despite the efforts of the doctors, the girl was pronounced dead at the hospital 45 minutes later.
The child was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant when she was born and her cause of death was recorded as stillbirth from the use of abortion drugs.
The woman was initially charged with child abuse, to which she pleaded not guilty. She later pleaded guilty to using drugs and other instruments to perform the abortion.
Judge Justice Pepperall accepted it was a poignant case and had been made more tragic by not pleading guilty earlier. He said the woman was given a 28-month sentence.
She has been prosecuted under the Offenses Against the Person Act 1861, sparking calls for abortion reform in the UK.
Following her sentencing, BPAS stated: Today, a mother-of-three has been jailed for 28 months after using abortion pills to end her pregnancy. No woman can do that. We need abortion law reform in the UK now.
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