Mother jailed for taking abortion pills after legal limit
A mother-of-three has been jailed for more than two years for inducing an abortion after the legal limit.
The 44-year-old received the medication following a remote consultation where she was not honest about how far along she was in her pregnancy.
The "pills by post" scheme, introduced in lockdown, was to be used for unwanted pregnancies up to 10 weeks.
However, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the woman was between 32-34 weeks pregnant when she took them.
Abortion is legal up to 24 weeks. However, after 10 weeks the procedure is carried out in a clinic.
Prosecutors argued the woman had provided false information knowing she was over the time limit and had made online searches which they said indicated "careful planning".
The court heard between February and May 2020 she had searched "how to hide a pregnancy bump", "how to have an abortion without going to the doctor" and "how to lose a baby at six months".
Based on the information she provided the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), she was sent the tablets because it was estimated she was seven weeks pregnant.
On 11 May 2020, having taken the pills, an emergency call was made at 18:39 BST saying she was in labour.
The baby was born not breathing during the phonecall and was confirmed dead about 45 minutes later.
A post-mortem examination recorded the baby girl's cause of death as stillbirth and maternal use of abortion drugs and she was estimated to be between 32 and 34 weeks' gestation.
The woman already had three sons before she became pregnant again in 2019.
The court heard she had moved back in with her estranged husband at the start of lockdown while carrying another man's baby.
The judge accepted she was "in emotional turmoil" as she sought to hide the pregnancy.
The woman was initially charged with child destruction, which she denied.
She later pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion, which was accepted by the prosecution.
Leniency letter 'not appropriate'
Sentencing, judge Mr Justice Edward Pepperall said it was a "tragic" case, adding that if she had pleaded guilty earlier he may have been able to consider suspending her jail sentence.
He said the woman 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.
She received a 28-month sentence, 14 of which will be spent in custody with the remainder on licence.
Ahead of Monday's hearing, a letter co-signed by a number of women's health organisations was sent to the court calling for a non-custodial sentence.
However, the judge said it was "not appropriate" and that his duty was "to apply the law as provided by Parliament".
He told the defendant the letter's authors were "concerned that your imprisonment might deter other women from accessing telemedical abortion services and other late-gestation women from seeking medical care or from being open and honest with medical professionals".
But he said it also "has the capacity to be seen as special pleading by those who favour wider access to abortions and is, in my judgment, just as inappropriate as it would be for a judge to receive a letter from one of the groups campaigning for more restrictive laws".
'Archaic law'
The sentencing has sparked outcry among women's rights organisations and campaigners.
BPAS said it was "shocked and appalled" by the woman's sentence which they said was based on an "archaic law".
"No woman can ever go through this again," said its chief executive, Clare Murphy.
"Over the last three years, there has been an increase in the numbers of women and girls facing the trauma of lengthy police investigations and threatened with up to life imprisonment under our archaic abortion law," she said.
"Vulnerable women in the most incredibly difficult of circumstances deserve more from our legal system."
She said MPs must do more to offer protection so "no more women in these desperate circumstances are threatened with prison again".
Labour MP Stella Creasy called for "urgent reform".
"The average prison sentence for a violent offence in England is 18 months," she said in a tweet.
"A woman who had an abortion without following correct procedures just got 28 months under an 1868 act - we need urgent reform to make safe access for all women in England, Scotland and Wales a human right."
When asked whether the prime minister was confident criminalising abortion in some circumstances was the right approach, Rishi Sunak's official spokesperson said the current laws struck a balance.
"Our laws as they stand balance a woman's right to access safe and legal abortions with the rights of an unborn child," he said.
"I'm not aware of any plans to address that approach."
'A mother-of-three has been jailed for more than two years for inducing an abortion after the legal limit.'
ReplyDeleteQuite right too says Gene.
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ReplyDeleteNow hang on a moment Detterling. Au contraire, I have nothing but the utmost sympathy and compassion for this unfortunate lady.
ReplyDeleteI posted about the sentencing. Unfortunately the judge had no other choice. To appear to condone abortion would have given the wrong impression. A life has been taken and the response of the Law must be robust.
I wrote what I did in anticipation of the uproar that would come from the Pro Choice lobby. And sure enough the uproar has come. Not one word of sympathy from them over the child who was killed!
And Detterling, I have done a lot more than you for this poor lady. This morning in church I prayed for her and I also lit a candle for her. What have you done other than sit on your fat ass firing out the most vile of ad hominem attacks.
Today the Catholic Church has responded to this tragic event with a statement from Bishop John Sherrington:
"Following the conviction and jailing of Carla Foster, on 12th June, for inducing abortion outside the legal limit using pills at home, Bishop John Sherrington, on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, called the circumstances 'deeply distressing' and offered prayers for all concerned.
In his statement, the Lead Bishop for Life Issues said:
'Abortion is always a tragedy, both for the mother and for the child who is killed. The consistent teaching of the Catholic Church has always been that both must be protected.
'The recent case of the mother who aborted her child outside the parameters of the law is deeply distressing for all concerned, especially her other children. However, it is the responsibility of the judiciary to decide how the law should be applied, including the consideration of mitigating circumstances and sentencing.
'I offer prayers for all concerned.'
"Now hang on a moment Detterling. Au contraire, I have nothing but the utmost sympathy and compassion for this unfortunate lady."
ReplyDeleteCHRIST! and you say I have lost it.
"And Detterling, I have done a lot more than you for this poor lady. This morning in church I prayed for her and I also lit a candle for her."
And a fat lot of good that will do her, you posturing creeping Jesus.
Your post was despicable, and so are you.
"Your post was despicable, and so are you."
ReplyDeleteI demand you apologize for that.
I suppose Bishop John Sherrington's statement was despicable too?
On the other hand, John Sherrington’s statement was as compassionate as the demands of Catholic doctrine allow him to be. As it happens, I understand completely what he said regarding the fact of abortion being a tragedy and like him I agree that compassion should be shown and prayerful support offered to parents who - for reasons no-one else should presume to know or judge - take the appallingly painful decision to end an unborn life.
ReplyDeleteHis attitude is markedly different from yours - a callous “sound-bite” dismissal - a despicable utterance by a despicable man who then licks his own arse to the tune of a votive candle and a hypocritical prayer. And as for doing something about it I have this afternoon sent a modest donation to the BPAS who, I understand are planning to appeal the sentence - not the conviction - the woman was clearly guilty. But she needs psychiatric help and emotional rehabilitation, not a kicking while she is down by a callous bastard like you.
And as my ad hominem abuse - I do it because you are impervious to argument. Once you have parroted out the Catholic doctrine you have no more to say.
"And as for doing something about it I have this afternoon sent a modest donation to the BPAS"
DeleteDisgraceful!
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ReplyDeleteBishop Sherrington's statement was in essence a reiteration of what I have written.
ReplyDeleteNo it wasn’t - your comment - callous and despicably nasty - was “quite right too” - a cruel sound bite aimed at kicking this unfortunate woman while she is down your subsequent arse licking is because you realise what a thoroughly nasty figure your despicable comment made you cut. Claiming that you said the same as the Bishop is, like much of what you say, a self serving falsehood.
ReplyDeleteMy comment 'Quite right too' referred to the legal sentence and not the unfortunate lady - and you know this. Same as when I make a comment about homosexual acts you try and twist this to make it appear I am attacking the homosexual person.
ReplyDeleteYou are incorrigible. No wonder I have always called you a canting old phony.
Come off it, Gene, you are not even kidding yourself. “Quite right too” was your crowing over a “victory”. And if you had spared a moment’s thought for the woman involved, you would not have posted your despicable sneer. But you didn’t, so you went ahead. And now, as always when you are nailed for some piece of filthy nastiness, you are trying to make it look as you meant something entirely different because you are a coward as well as a bully.
ReplyDeleteIt’s the same as your monumental hypocrisy about homosexuals. For you to maintain that you don’t hate homosexuals but the way some of them express their love is simply making a distinction that for practical purposes doesn’t exist, so pull that specious crap on me.
DON’T pull that specious crap on me.
ReplyDelete"For you to maintain that you don’t hate homosexuals"
ReplyDeleteOf course I don't hate homosexuals!
My Great-uncle Claude was gay - not that we called it gay when I was a child. I, and my older brother Paul, loved 'Uncle Nancy'. He was wonderful ... his pinkish cardigan with suede front patches, cigarette holder a la Noel Coward, his gold-plated Ronson cigarette lighter, his Ivor Novello records, his kindness, his generosity. Did you know that when I went to Oxford University he gave me a gift of a Remington manual typewriter? He perspicaciously saw the future writer.
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ReplyDeletePlease quote properly - in full:
ReplyDelete"'A mother-of-three has been jailed for more than two years for inducing an abortion after the legal limit.'
Quite right too says Gene."
This refers to the sentence and not the tragic lady. And you know this.
You are the devil's manifestation of dishonesty Detterling,
Bollocks.
DeleteI have removed your comment in which you have alleged that my Great-uncle engaged in filthy and depraved homosexual practices.
ReplyDeleteThat's it! The gloves are now off. I shall now be going for the jugular.
Delia, Sebastian and Cuthbert are now legitimate targets.
Great-uncle Claude was chaste and celibate. It was well known in the family that he never had a relationship - he used to say he was content with the BBC Third Programme and his Ivor Novello and Kathleen Ferrier records.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course you believed him? But how do you know what he got up to when he was un-observed by his family? For all you know, in the subterranean world of the homosexual before 1967, when bigoted bastards like you made the law about homosexuality, your uncle Claude may have been one of the most promiscuous sodomites in London.
ReplyDeleteYou can imagine the ads in the back of The Spectator and the New Statesman....Gentlemen's Friction Therapy, Perineal bifurcation a speciality, ring Uncle Nancy at HAM 491501...
ReplyDeleteThat's it! The gloves are now off. I shall now be going for the jugular.
DeleteDelia, Sebastian and Cuthbert are now legitimate targets.
And now, Gene “crybaby” Vincent is removing posts from his blog which show just what a whining shit he is. So much for free speech, eh Gene “two-faced whinged” Vincent? You can hand it out, but you can’t take it, can you, Gene “bottlejob” Vincent?
ReplyDeleteAnd you have been warned - ONE WORD about my wife and family and your life will not be worth living. Got that, Gene “hypocrite and ponce” Vincent?
You have stepped over the line Detterling by insulting the memory of Great-uncle Claude. I, and my older brother Paul, thought the world of him. And he never practised the filth you have ascribed to him.
ReplyDeleteHe was a practising member of the C of E you might be interested to know, and took his faith very seriously. He worshipped at St Matthias Church, Richmond Hill and was on the parish council and was very much involved in the music ministry.
Insulting his memory is also insulting me and my deceased brother. You'll be hearing from me.
Balls. You have insulted my wife, my son, my nephew and his husband for years in the most disgusting fashion, and the first time you are paid out in your own bogus coin you squeal like a stuck pig - as I said, you can dish it out, but you can’t take it, which makes you a despicable hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteYou claim to have “thought the world” of your sodomite Uncle Nancy (for all homosexuals, according to you , are sodomites ipso facto). Well, I think the world of my wife, my son and my nephew and his husband - which didn’t stop you claiming to have fathered my son, buggered my wife and that my nephew and his husband had adopted this son from ulterior and sinister motives.
So less of the pearl clutching, Gene - you are fooling no-one.
One word from you about my wife and family and you will have your balls kicked so hard that they will come out of your ears.
Newcastle Detectives were well worth every penny.