Yesterday a woman received a 28 month sentence, with over a year in custody, for using abortion pills to end her pregnancy. Humanists UK has reacted with shock and horror, and calls for immediate action to reform abortion law in England and Wales.
Carla Foster, a mother of three, will spend 14 months in custody and a further 14 months on licence, as she took abortion bills outside the legal limit using pills at home during the pandemic. Ms Foster was initially charged with child destruction which she denied and later pled guilty to an offence under a Victorian law, the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
With the circumstances she was under, I can imagine choosing the legal risk against being forced to carry and raise an unwanted child. Especially since there likely was confusion over earlier-term abortion services at the time potentially causing the process to go on longer than she wanted.
She reconciled with the father of her other sons, just as lockdown started, but was pregnant with someone else’s child. I hope this gets appealed, even if just for the kids’ sake.
What’s been conveniently left out of this article is how long past the legal final termination date she took the pills, she took the tablets at 32-34 weeks, this almost full term! Full term is 40 weeks. She knew what she was doing and purposely lied to Drs and others over it.
How is what this woman did any different from the other woman who is currently on trial for murdering pre-mature babies by air embolisms.
The problem raised by the rights organisation is that the law used to charge the woman is one that should not be on the books - it essentially leaves wide open space to find women guilty for having an abortion for any reason. It’s an archaic law used just because the judge and prosecution wanted to find the woman guilty of something so they just went with whatever would work.
The reason that the woman waited so long to get an abortion is due to a lack of access to healthcare and resources in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The woman was searching online about how to get an abortion at a point where it was entirely legal for her to do so, but she was unable to access those services due to the pandemic.
A woman should have domain over her own body. As long as the child is attached to her, she should be able to abort it. The fetus doesn’t have a concept of what’s going on or what is missing.
