A woman who illegally organised her own abortion by taking medication has been jailed.
Having a medical abortion involves taking two tablets but can only be carried out 10 weeks into a pregnancy in the UK – with the court previously hearing the woman terminated the pregnancy after that time.
The woman, who is not being named, already had three sons before becoming pregnant again in 2019.
She didn’t speak to her doctor because she was ’embarrassed’, Stoke-on-Trent crown court was told on Monday.
She called the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) during the coronavirus lockdown in May 2020 and lied about how far along she was.
The BPAS then sent her abortion-causing drugs.
The woman made a number of internet searches between February and May 2020, including ‘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’.
Five days after the call to BPAS, on May 11 2020, a 999 call was made saying the woman was in labour, and the child was born during the phone call.
The baby wasn’t breathing and despite the efforts of paramedics the baby girl was pronounced dead at hospital 45 minutes later.
The child was between 32 and 34 weeks’ gestation when born and her cause of death was recorded as stillbirth and maternal use of abortion drugs.
The woman was initially charged with child destruction, to which she pleaded not guilty.
She later pleaded guilty to administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion, which was accepted by the prosecution.
Judge Mr Justice Pepperall acknowledged it is an emotive case and said it was made more ‘tragic’ because the woman did not plead guilty earlier, adding he may have been able to consider suspending the jail sentence if she had.
He said the woman, who was given a 28-month extended sentence, will serve 14 months in custody and the remainder on licence after her release.
She’s been prosecuted under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, sparking calls for abortion reform in the UK.
Following her sentencing, the BPAS said: ‘Today, a mother-of-three has been jailed for 28 months after using abortion pills to end her own pregnancy. No woman can ever go through this again.
‘We need abortion law reform in Great Britain NOW.’
A spokesman for the TUC added: ‘Every woman should have the right to choose. Time for abortion law reform now.’
The 44-year-old, whose identity has not been made public, got hold of the abortion pills under the UK government’s ‘pills by post’ initiative that was rolled out in the wake of Covid crisis and is still in operation now.
The mother-of-three will carry out half her sentence in prison and the remaining time under licence conditions.
