A woman in the U.K. has been given two years of jail time after she obtained an abortion at—according to prosecutors—around 32–34 weeks of pregnancy. Under U.K. law, abortion is illegal after 24 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions, and must be performed in a clinic after 10 weeks, but this situation rightfully has people calling for that to be reconsidered.
The woman obtained pills that would induce an abortion through the “pills by post” program, introduced during the pandemic, after a remote consultation in early 2020. The pills could be taken up to a 10-week limit of at-home abortions, however, she believed herself to be around 28 weeks.
Now this is where it gets even more upsetting: She is being prosecuted under a law that was brought in over 160 years ago. That law, the Offences Against the Person Act, is A CENTURY OLD and doesn’t really give us the right to anything, just a list of exceptions in which abortion is allowed—not to mention that the judge in the case was a man; I hope I don’t I need to explain why that’s an issue.
She will spend half her sentence in prison and the other half under license. To make matters worse, the judge in the case, Justice Pepperall, told the mom of three, “In my judgment your culpability was high … because you knew full well your pregnancy was beyond the limit of 24 weeks, and you deliberately lied to gain access to telemedical services.
“I accept that you feel very deep and genuine remorse for your actions. You are racked by guilt and have suffered depression. I also accept that you had a very deep emotional attachment to your unborn child and that you are plagued by nightmares and flashbacks to seeing your dead child’s face.”
According to Vice reporter, female reproductive health activist, and one of my favorite journalists ever Sophia Smith-Galer, the judge also said in sentencing, “This offence was committed against the backdrop of the first and most intense phase of lockdown … forced to stay at home, you moved back in with your long-term but estranged partner while carrying another man’s child.” Now, I don’t want to assume what he meant by this, but considering he demonstrated no compassion for the fact that she was clearly struggling to find abortion services from before pandemic lockdowns right through the early stages of them—when medical access was a mess for everyone—I can only read it as shaming. This whole case reeks of sexism and a disregard for women’s health.
The judge also acknowledged, “I also take into account the fact that you are a good mother to three children who would suffer from your imprisonment. One of your children himself has special needs which means that he is particularly reliant upon your love and support.” But when he also said that he could have suspended her prison term if only she had pleaded guilty at the start, it’s clear that he could be more lenient and is, instead, choosing to punish this woman more than he has to.
But how did they know she was misleading BPAS? Well, they looked through her messages and search history, of course. This might shock you, dear reader, but it’s nothing new. Data privacy has not really been a concern in these cases, because, you know, any chance to go after a woman and they take it.
There was also a letter, which was sent to the judge ahead of sentencing in April, which he called “inappropriate” and was signed from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives. In it, they expressed one of the immediate concerns I had when I heard about this story: Women will become fearful of seeking abortions in case they are prosecuted. “We plead to Your Honour to consider leniency in this case … we are fearful that if the case before you receives a custodial sentence it may signal to other women who access tele-medical abortion services, or who experience later gestation deliveries, that they risk imprisonment if they seek medical care.”
This is also shown in the fact that over the past three years, the number of women and girls facing investigation under current U.K. laws on abortion has risen, and there have been a few other cases like this one. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the U.S., I am fearful, as I have seen of others in this country, that the U.K. is heading in their direction.
She was clearly struggling and, as many have said, deserves help and not to be sent to prison. Not to mention she has children who need her, though even if she didn’t, she, and all the women like her, would still deserve help and not this judgmental garbage.
It sets a precedent and makes me believe that soon a woman could be thrown into a prison cell just because she had an abortion. I would say it’s shocking, unbelievable, something I cannot fathom, but sadly, that simply isn’t true. At least I’m not alone, and this has led to outcry that U.K. abortion laws need to be changed to prevent things from getting any worse.
(via The Guardian, featured image: Pexels)
