UK – ‘Unprecedented’ rise in abortion prosecutions prompts call for law change from medical leaders

Statement from groups including BMA and royal colleges says current law is causing ‘trauma and cruelty’

Shanti Das, The Guardian
Sun 12 Jan 2025

Medical leaders are calling for reform of abortion laws in England and Wales after an “unprecedented” rise in women and girls being prosecuted for ending their own pregnancies.

More than 30 groups – including the British Medical Association, the Faculty of Public Health, the British Society of Abortion Care Providers and the royal colleges of GPs, nurses, psychiatrists, midwives and anaesthetists – issued a joint statement warning that the current legislation is causing “trauma and cruelty” and demanding “immediate action” to safeguard reproductive rights.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jan/12/unprecedented-rise-in-abortion-prosecutions-prompts-call-for-law-change-from-medical-leaders

12.01.2025

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1967 Abortion Act

Bethany Cox

British Medical Association

British Society of Abortion Care Providers

Carla Foster

criminalisation of abortion

Faculty of Public Health

Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health

Offences Against the Person Act

prosecuting women for abortion

RCOG

Royal College of General Practitioners

Royal College of Nursing

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

telemedicine abortion

Women’s Aid and Liberty

Children of a British woman suspected of illegal abortion removed from her care

Phoebe Davis
March 8, 2024

A British mother being investigated for a suspected illegal abortion under a Victorian-era law had her existing children removed from her care, Tortoise can reveal.

The mother is one of six women who have appeared in an English court since December 2022 for illegally ending their pregnancies under the Offence Against the Person Act (OAPA) 1861. Before then, only three women had faced convictions since the law was introduced.

Continued: https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2024/03/08/children-of-british-woman-suspected-of-illegal-abortion-removed-from-her-care/

08.03.2024

News

1861 Offences against the Person Act

prosecuting women for abortion

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

MPs to get free vote on decriminalising abortion in England and Wales

Amendment by Labour MP Diana Johnson would end prosecutions for terminations after 24 weeks

Rowena Mason Whitehall
Fri 23 Feb 2024

MPs are expected to get a free vote on decriminalising abortion when a Labour backbencher lays an amendment that would end the prosecution of women who terminate pregnancies after the 24-week limit.

Diana Johnson is expected to lay an amendment to the Criminal Justice Act next month that would stop the possibility of women being jailed for going ahead with abortions after the time limit.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/23/mps-to-get-free-vote-on-decriminalising-abortion-in-england-and-wales

More women investigated for illegal terminations, says abortion provider

An unprecedented number of women are being investigated by police on suspicion of illegally ending a pregnancy, the BBC has been told.

Feb 20, 2024
By Eleanor Layhe, Anna Meisel and Divya Talwar

Abortion provider MSI says it knows of up to 60 criminal inquiries in England and Wales since 2018, compared with almost zero before.

Some investigations followed natural pregnancy loss, File on 4 found.

Pregnancy loss is investigated only if credible evidence suggests a crime, the National Police Chiefs' Council says.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68305991

UK – Abortion prosecutions are never in the public interest, says royal college

New guidance to say health staff should not report women suspected of illegally ending pregnancies to police

Harriet Sherwood
Mon 22 Jan 2024

Doctors and other healthcare staff should not report suspected illegal abortions to the police as prosecutions are never in the public interest, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has said.

In an intervention on Monday that will trigger further debate on the decriminalisation of abortion, Dr Ranee Thakar, the president of the professional body, said “outdated and antiquated” abortion laws meant women were left vulnerable to criminal investigation.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/22/illegal-abortions-prosecutions-uk-police-royal-college

22.01.2024

News

Bethany Cox

British Society of Abortion Care Providers

Carla Foster

Dr Jonathan Lord

Dr Ranee Thakar

Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Society for the Protection of Unborn Children

UK – Telling health staff not to report women for suspected illegal abortions has firm legal basis

There is no general obligation to contact police about a crime and the royal college is within its rights to tell its members not to do so

Haroon Siddique, Legal affairs correspondent
Mon 22 Jan 2024

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ call for abortion to be decriminalised – and announcement that it will tell its members not to report women to police if they believe they may have illegally ended their pregnancies – is a significant intervention in the debate.

Concerns about the existing laws in England and Wales came to the fore last year when a woman was sentenced to more than two years in prison for procuring drugs to induce an abortion after the legal limit, which is generally 24 weeks.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/22/proposed-guidance-to-health-staff-not-to-report-suspected-pregnancy-termination-to-police-may-be-lawful

UK – Teesside woman cleared over lockdown abortion charges after CPS offers no evidence

The prosecution case against Bethany Cox, 22, relied on 1861 law condemned as cruel and outdated by campaigners

Mark Brown, North of England correspondent
Tue 9 Jan 2024

Prosecutors have offered no evidence against a woman accused of using drugs to bring about an illegal abortion as the first UK coronavirus lockdown ended.

Bethany Cox, 22, was on Tuesday formally found not guilty of charges that had been brought under a Victorian law condemned as cruel and outdated by campaigners – the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.

Nicholas Lumley KC, the barrister representing Cox, said it was “an extraordinary state of affairs”. He said his client had been interviewed by police in the “throes of grief” and had been investigated for three years.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/09/teeside-woman-cleared-over-lockdown-abortion-charges-after-cps-offers-no-evidence

09.01.2024

News

1861 Offences against the Person Act

Bethany Cox

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

UK – Calls to change ‘archaic’ abortion law as fifth woman faces court

Hannah Al-Othman and Megan Agnew
Sunday September 24 2023

A woman who has appeared in court accused of having an illegal abortion is the fifth reported to have been prosecuted this year.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of procuring “poison” — the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol — with intent to cause her own miscarriage. The offence, under section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, is alleged to have been committed in November 2020, during the second coronavirus lockdown.

Continued: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/calls-to-change-archaic-abortion-law-as-fifth-woman-faces-court-r86x6rjj0

24.09.2023

Offences Against the Person Act 1861

prosecuting women for abortion

self-managed abortion

Teesside woman accused of carrying out own abortion pleads not guilty

Bethany Cox, 22, will face trial next year over offences alleged to have taken place during first Covid lockdown in 2020

Mark Brown, North of England correspondent
Tue 15 Aug 2023

A 22-year-old woman has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging she illegally administered drugs in order to procure an abortion.

Bethany Cox, of Stockton-on-Tees appeared before the recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Watson KC, at Teesside crown court.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/15/teesside-woman-accused-of-carrying-out-own-abortion-pleads-not-guilty

15.08.2023

News

Bethany Cox

misoprostol

Offences Against the Person Act 1861

Woman in Teesside accused of carrying out own abortion to appear before judge

Bethany Cox, 22, is fourth to be prosecuted on such charges in eight months after only three trials in 160 years, say campaigners

Mark Brown North of England correspondent
Sun 13 Aug 2023

A 22-year-old woman accused of procuring a poison to abort her child shortly after the first Covid lockdown is due to appear before a judge this week.

Bethany Cox is the fourth woman to be prosecuted in the last eight months for allegedly carrying out her own abortion, with only three trials in the 160 years before that, according to campaigners.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/13/woman-teesside-accused-abortion-poison-judge-court

13.08.2023