Mum-of-three jailed over 'lockdown abortion' after ordering 'pills by post'
A mum-of-three has been sentenced to 28 months in jail for taking abortion drugs after the legal limit during lockdown.
The woman, now 44, admitted illegally inducing an abortion in May 2020.
She had received the drugs in the "pills by post" scheme run during the pandemic, which allowed drugs to be supplied following a remote consultation for pregnancies up to 10 weeks.
A previous hearing was told she was past point and had pleaded guilty to taking abortion pills after the legal limit.
She faced up to life in prison and both medics and MPS urged a judge not to jail her.
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The baby, named Lily, was not born on May 11 and was not breathing. She was taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 7.45pm.
Prosecutor Robert Price told the court: "The prosecution case is she unlawfully procured the abortion of the child she was carrying by taking abortifacient drugs she had obtained by providing false details to a pregnancy service.
"She did so at a time when she knew her pregnancy had exceeded the 24th week. The legal limit is 24 weeks. Lily was between 32 and 34 weeks at the time of the abortion.
"It is the Crown's case that the taking of the drugs was a deliberate act. Her intention was to procure an abortion."
She admitted a charge of administering poison with intent to procure a miscarriage between May 8, 2020 and May 12, 2020.
Barry White, mitigating, said she has left letters for her three sons in case she does not return home today as she 'has not had the courage to tell them exactly what she has done'.
Mr White said: "I accept she lied to get the medication. We will never really know the emotional problems she was experiencing at the time.
"She says she cannot forgive herself and it will haunt her forever. She has found the last three years extremely difficult."
High Court Judge Mr Justice Pepperall said: "The case relates to your tragic and unlawful decision to obtain a late abortion.
"You were 32 to 34 weeks pregnant and well beyond the point you could lawfully have an abortion.
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"You knew it was well beyond the legal limit of 24 weeks.
"You deliberately lied to bring yourself on the telemedical services for early abortions.
"I accept you have a deep emotional affiliation to your unborn child and you are plagued by flashbacks, seeing your dead child's face."
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the charity which supplied the drugs to the woman, said patients seeking terminations should never be threatened with prison.
Commenting on the case on Twitter before the sentencing hearing, the BPAS said: "This woman is being prosecuted under a law passed in 1861 which states that any woman in Great Britain who attempts to end her own pregnancy can face up to life imprisonment. What kind of a society treats women this way?
"Unless the law is reformed, more women and girls will face the trauma of lengthy police investigations and the threat of prison."
An NHS consultant, working in reproductive healthcare, told the Times there was concern about "the impact the sentence will have on our abiloity to dleiver NHS services and how it could deter from being open and honest with us".
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