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, were 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, who cannot be identified, 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, who already had three sons before she became pregnant again in 2019, 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.

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.

She received a 28-month sentence, 14 of which will be spent in custody with the remainder on licence.

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."

This breaking news story is being updated.