Two women in the UK are in danger of going to jail for having abortions, one of whom bought the necessary medicines from a licenced vendor.
Unidentified lady, 25, is charged with “illegally administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing, specifically Misoprostol,” with the goal to cause a miscarriage.
In January of last year, she allegedly took the medication, which is one of two pills often provided by doctors to end a pregnancy.
The Offenses Against the Person Act of 1861 governs this felony, which carries a life term in jail.
At Oxford Crown Court, the woman, a mother of a young child, entered a not-guilty plea to giving poison with the intention of causing a miscarriage.
She was informed by an interpreter that her trial will take place in February of 2019.
The Infant Life (Preservation) Act, which dates back to 1929, charges another lady with child destruction, and she is scheduled to appear before Staffordshire Magistrates Court.
In accordance with rules put in place during the pandemic, the anonymous woman acquired medications from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) during the coronavirus lockdown.
After a remote consultation, it permitted women who were up to 10 weeks pregnant to get abortion pills in the mail to ingest at home.
Following a vote in favour of an amendment to the Health and Care Bill, the at-home provisions became a permanent part of the law in March.
The woman took the drugs, gave birth to a foetus at 28 weeks, and then called the police.
Stoke Crown Court will be assigned to hear her case. She could receive a sentence of up to life in prison if found guilty.
According to the Abortion Act of 1967, abortion is permitted when done so in compliance with the law, including when done so by licenced providers and in hospitals like the NHS.
Senior medical professionals have warned that ongoing prosecutions may discourage women who have miscarriages and partial abortions from getting the help they need.
Doctors, attorneys, and representatives of charities have signed a letter asking Max Hill QC, director of public prosecutions, to cease prosecuting women who want to abort their pregnancies.
The letter requests that all ongoing cases be dropped and that no more accusations be made against women or girls who terminate pregnancies or experience miscarriage in the future.
Similar liberties are being restricted in the US, where the Roe v. Wade decision of the Supreme Court, which provided women the right to request an abortion, was recently overturned.
According to Clare Murphy, CEO of Bpas, “These convictions may well discourage women who have miscarriages and partial abortions from accessing treatment when needed.”
Some migrant women who are ineligible for NHS-funded abortion services may believe that their only choice is to obtain abortion pills illegally.
Should the police be called if these ladies go to the hospital seeking assistance, or should they be given medical attention and support without fear of legal repercussions?
The organisation has written to the Crown Prosecution Service, who are reportedly taking urgent consideration of the allegations stated.
In response to a natural miscarriage or stillbirth, some women, according to Jonathan Lord, Medical Director of MSI Reproductive Choices UK, have discovered that they are being probed because they had previously thought about ending their pregnancy.
One patient, he claimed, was taken into police custody after being released from the hospital and held there for 36 hours.
One of the attorneys who signed the letter, Charlotte Proudman, stated she is thinking about filing a lawsuit against the government under the provisions of the human rights act.
MPs have called for the law to be changed to regulate abortion as a medical treatment.
“I think the British public do not want to see women and doctors criminalised under a Victorian legislation when medical and public opinion have changed on so much,” Labour MP Diana Johnson stated.