Latest news with #decriminalisation
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Mother jailed for aborting baby at 39 weeks would now go unpunished
Within a week of her due date, Sarah Catt aborted her baby. She claimed that her son was stillborn and that she had buried his body, but no evidence of the baby was ever found. Catt is among a small number of women in England and Wales to face prosecution after terminating their pregnancies. However, under new regulations set to be brought in, she – and others like her – would never have been arrested. On Tuesday night, MPs voted with a majority of 242 to decriminalise those seeking an abortion at any stage of gestation and for any reason. Abortion in England and Wales is currently a criminal offence. However, it is legal if carried out up to 24 weeks and with an authorised provider, with very limited circumstances permitting one after this period. Women may also take prescribed medication at home if they are fewer than 10 weeks pregnant. The vote has divided public opinion, with many welcoming the 'hard-won victory' for women, and others believing that it goes too far, arguing that ' late-term abortions kill babies '. In September 2012, Catt, then 35, was convicted of aborting her baby when she was 39 weeks pregnant. During her trial at Leeds Crown Court, and following an analysis of her computer, jurors heard that she had bought a drug from a company in Mumbai to induce labour, and that she delivered her baby at home by herself. The judge was told that Catt had been having an affair with a work colleague for seven years, and that her husband was unaware of the pregnancy and was not consulted about her decision to have an abortion. She already had two children with her husband and had previously had a scan while 30 weeks pregnant at a hospital in Leeds, confirming the pregnancy. However, suspicions were raised when she failed to register the birth weeks later. After giving birth to her son, Catt said he was not moving or breathing, and that she buried his body but never revealed the location. She pleaded guilty to administering a poison with intent to procure a miscarriage. Sentencing her, after a trial in which she was described as having 'shown no remorse or given an explanation for what she did', Mr Justice Cooke said that she made a 'deliberate and calculated decision' to end her pregnancy, and that the gravity of her crime lay between murder and manslaughter. However, in June 2013, Catt had her eight-year prison sentence reduced to three-and-a-half years. Lady Justice Rafferty, heading a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal, described the original sentence as 'manifestly excessive', while Catt sobbed in the dock. Catt is among half a dozen women to have faced prosecution for having an abortion, and who, following the MPs' recent vote, would not now be criminalised. Sophie Harvey is also among them. She was just 19 when she gave birth in her bathroom. Her stillborn baby was found wrapped in a towel and placed in a household rubbish bin. Six years later, in December last year, Harvey and her partner Elliot Benham both pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to conspiracy to obtain a poison with the intent to procure a miscarriage and endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child. Harvey was sentenced to an 18-month community order, while Benham was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work. The court heard that they did not want the baby, but when Harvey discovered she was pregnant the foetus was found to be 28 weeks old – four weeks over the legal limit – and that they had paid for drugs to cause the abortion. According to recent Freedom of Information data released by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), between 2019 and 2023, 21 defendants (16 men and five women, aged between 24 and 59 years old) were charged with administering or procuring drugs or using instruments to induce an abortion, or child destruction. Of them, ten defendants were convicted and five were convicted on other substantive offences. Further high-profile cases have continued to divide public opinion. Nicola Packer was still bleeding and in pain when she was handcuffed. She was recovering from surgery for a stillbirth when police arrived at hospital later that day and accused her of illegally aborting her baby. Ms Packer took abortion medication, which was prescribed over the phone during the Covid-19 lockdown in November 2020, when she was aged 41. She delivered at home, and brought the foetus to a London hospital in a backpack the following day. Jurors heard that she took the medications when she was around 26 weeks pregnant, though the legal limit is 10 weeks, and that she knew this. However, Ms Packer denied this and spoke of her 'shock' at being pregnant, before breaking down, saying: 'If I had known I was that far along I wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't have put the baby or myself through it.' In May 2025, she sobbed as she was acquitted of 'unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing' with the 'intent to procure a miscarriage'. She had spent almost five years facing the threat of prison. Ms Packer has since spoken out about how, instead of being sent home to recuperate following her surgery, while in custody and in pain, she was not given anti-clotting medication on time, having been told it was 'not a priority'. Furthermore, in June 2023, Carla Foster was sentenced to 28 months in prison for terminating a pregnancy between 32 and 34 weeks. The then 44-year-old mother-of-three claimed she felt too ' embarrassed ' to see a doctor after becoming pregnant in 2019, and that she did not know how far along she was. She also received abortion medication over the phone during the Covid-19 pandemic, and a court heard that she lied to a nurse practitioner from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), convincing them that she was seven weeks pregnant. Shortly after, she made a 999 call telling operators that she was in labour and had suffered a miscarriage. She was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty. She later pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion, which was accepted by the prosecution. The Court of Appeal later reduced her sentence to 14 months suspended. Sitting at the London court in July 2023, Dame Victoria Sharp described her case as 'very sad', adding that 'it is a case that calls for compassion, not punishment'. In 2024, the CPS dropped its case against Bethany Cox, then 22, from Teesside, who was accused of causing her own miscarriage after purchasing drugs in 2020, as the first Covid-19 lockdown ended. At the time, Nicholas Lumley KC, her barrister, said that she had been interviewed by police in the 'throes of grief', and had been investigated for three years. It is not known how or when the baby died, and the prosecution dropped the case due to 'evidential difficulties'. As a result of MPs' vote this week, the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, which outlaws abortion, will be amended so that it will no longer apply to women ending their own pregnancies. That means that Ms Packer, Ms Foster, Ms Catt, Ms Cox, Ms Harvey, and others like them in similar circumstances would no longer be prosecuted. The vote was tabled by the Labour MPs Stella Creasy and Tonia Antoniazzi, who criticised the current 'Victorian' laws being used against vulnerable women, and said that the decriminalisation would ensure women do not face arrest, investigation, prosecution or imprisonment regarding any pregnancies. Following the vote, Heidi Stewart, chief executive of BPAS, hailed the vote as 'a landmark moment for women's rights in this country and the most significant change to our abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed'. In contrast, Kathleen Stock, a former philosophy professor at the University of Sussex, who was forced to quit her job in 2021 following a high-profile row with the institution over her gender-critical views, was among those criticising the vote. 'Late-term abortions kill babies,' she said. 'Viable babies.' Catherine Robinson, spokesman for Right To Life UK, also raised concerns about the implications of the vote. She said: 'Removing the legal deterrent against women having abortions outside of a clinical setting beyond 24 weeks will only make it more likely that women in vulnerable circumstances will take similar action in future, putting themselves at risk. The current legal deterrent protects women from coercion at the hands of abusive partners and from taking actions they may later regret.' The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said that the vote marked 'a dark day', and described the result as 'heartbreaking', 'horrifying', 'extreme' and 'barbaric'. According to the latest available data held by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 251,377 abortions for women in England and Wales in 2022. This marked the highest number since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967, and an increase of 17 per cent over the previous year. The vast majority of them were medically induced and funded by the NHS. According to recent polling by Ipsos ahead of the vote, 71 per cent of Britons think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 47 per cent believe that the current 24-week time limit for most abortions in England and Wales is 'about right'. When asked about illegal abortions, just over half (55 per cent) think that the person who performed the abortion should face a penalty. However, considerably fewer believe that the woman who had the abortion (32 per cent) or someone else who arranged the abortion (37 per cent) should face a penalty.
Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Times
Change in law ‘opens door to DIY abortions'
Decriminalising abortion could lead to more terminations and may result in women being coerced into aborting their babies, some women's rights advocates have said. On Tuesday, MPs voted by a majority of 242 to change abortion legislation to stop women being prosecuted for ending their pregnancy at any stage of gestation. The landslide vote to decriminalise the procedure is the biggest change to abortion laws in England and Wales for nearly 60 years. Pro-choice groups had lobbied for the change in the law ALISHIA ABODUNDE/GETTY IMAGES Abortion in England and Wales is a criminal offence but it is legal with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks, and beyond this in very limited circumstances. It is also possible to take prescribed medication at home if a woman is fewer than ten weeks pregnant. However, the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 — which makes it illegal for women to end their own pregnancies — is to be amended so women will no longer be prosecuted for having an abortion outside the current rules.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Activists and MPs vow to fight decriminalisation of abortion after landmark change passed with just 45 minutes of debate
MPs and campaigners have vowed to fight abortion decriminalisation in the House of Lords after a policing bill was 'hijacked' to push through landmark reforms with limited scrutiny. On Tuesday MPs voted for the biggest change to abortion law for half a century, meaning women will no longer be prosecuted for aborting their baby for any reason and at any stage up to birth. This was introduced as an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is concerned with police powers and anti-social behaviour - meaning MPs had less than two hours to debate the most consequential change since the 1967 Abortion Act. Tuesday night was the first time this amendment was debated in the Commons and campaigners claim that pro-choice MPs 'hijacked' the Crime Bill to force through the change and limit scrutiny. Had it been introduced as a standalone Government Bill this would have guaranteed hours of debate and scrutiny, with MPs given the opportunity to amend the legislation to add safeguards. Tory MP Jerome Mayhew raised a point of order following the debate, telling the Commons: 'We have made a major change to the abortion law, and that was on the basis of no evidence session, no committee stage scrutiny, [and] just 46 minutes of backbench debate.' And Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a letter to constituents ahead of Tuesday's vote that she was 'troubled' by the amendment being introduced to the Crime and Policing Bill 'meaning there will be less time for debate'. The Bill still has further stages to go through in Parliament and changes could be made to the measures in the House of Lords. Last night Catherine Robinson, of pro-life group Right to Life UK, said that campaigners 'will be fighting this amendment at every stage in the Lords'. 'Pro-abortion MPs hijacked a Government Bill to force through a radical and far-reaching change to our abortion laws,' she added. 'There has been no public consultation, no evidence sessions, no detailed scrutiny at Committee Stage - instead, the largest change to abortion law since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967 had just over forty-five minutes of backbench debate, then a ministerial closing speech in which the minister refused to take any interventions.' Tory MP Andrew Rosindell described the way in which abortion decriminalisation was brought before the House as 'truly shocking'. He said: 'These are hugely consequential changes to our abortion laws that will put many vulnerable women and viable babies at grave risk. The fact that these extreme changes were subject to such a rushed debate is lamentable. 'Recent polling makes clear that the vast majority of the public oppose these inhumane changes to our abortion law, and it's hardly surprising there has been such a strong backlash.' Alithea Williams, from anti-abortion campaign group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), said: 'Shoehorning abortion decriminalisation into the Crime and Policing Bill, which has been described as 'Christmas treeing', has denied considered and mature reflection of this change, fixing a problem that simply doesn't exist.' Immediately after the vote, Ms Williams said: 'We call on the Lords to throw this undemocratic, barbaric proposal out when it reaches them. We will never accept a law that puts women in danger and removes all rights from unborn babies.'
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Abortion decriminalisation ‘undermines feminism'
A landmark vote to decriminalise abortion at any point up to birth 'undermines the legitimacy of feminism', a gender-critical academic has claimed. On Tuesday night, MPs voted with a majority of 242 to decriminalise seeking an abortion at any stage of gestation for any reason. As a result, the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, which outlaws abortion, will be amended so that it no longer applies to women ending their own pregnancies. The historic vote has divided public opinion, with many welcoming the 'hard-won victory' for women, and others warning that it goes too far. Kathleen Stock, a former philosophy professor at the University of Sussex, who was forced to quit her job following a row with the institution over her views on gender rights and its transgender policy, was among those criticising the ruling. 'Late-term abortions kill babies,' she said. 'Viable babies.' Writing on X, formerly Twitter, she added: 'There is no good case for full decriminalisation as voted for today. And there is no genuine political will for it either, because most people haven't been slowly boiled in a vat of hyperliberal feminism and progressive technocracy like overheating frogs, until they can't tell which way is up. 'All this will do is further undermine the legitimacy of feminism generally (by association, even if some feminists are actually against it) and also undermine public trust in lawmakers (How could this have been decided so quickly without any proper consultation or discussion of a wide range of views? Why wasn't it in the manifesto, if it is so important?).' Abortion in England and Wales is currently a criminal offence. However, it is legal if carried out with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks, with very limited circumstances permitting one after this period. Women may also take prescribed medication at home if they are less than 10 weeks pregnant. The vote was tabled by the Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who criticised the current 'Victorian' laws for being used against vulnerable women and said that the decriminalisation would ensure women do not face arrest, investigation, prosecution or imprisonment regarding any pregnancies. Caroline Ansell, director of advocacy and policy at the social policy charity Care, described the vote as 'truly heartbreaking'. 'Parliament has taken an extreme and retrograde step that will pave the way for more, harrowing late-term abortions. The decriminalisation of abortion will place women at greater risk of trauma and hospitalisation,' she said. However, Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, welcomed the 'hard-won victory', hailing it as 'a landmark moment for women's rights in this country and the most significant change to our abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed'. She added: 'There will be no more women investigated after enduring a miscarriage, no more women dragged from their hospital beds to the back of a police van, no more women separated from their children because of our archaic abortion law. 'When we launched the campaign to decriminalise abortion in 2016, we could not have envisaged that within a decade, such progress would be achieved. 'In the past six years, we have seen more progressive reform of abortion law than we had seen in the previous 50. Today's vote is testament to the strength of support for abortion rights across the healthcare sector, civil society, Parliament and the country as a whole. 'We look forward to continuing to work with MPs to deliver wider reform and an abortion framework fit for the 21st century.' Ms Stewart also highlighted the 'traumatic experience' of Nicola Packer, who took abortion medication during the Covid-19 lockdown in Nov 2020 and brought the baby to a London hospital in a backpack the following day. Jurors were told she took prescribed medications when she was about 26 weeks pregnant, when the legal limit is 10 weeks, and claimed that she knew this. During her trial, she spoke of her 'shock' at being pregnant before breaking down and saying: 'If I had known I was that far along, I wouldn't have done it.' In May, jurors found her not guilty of having an illegal abortion.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
No woman should go to jail for ending a pregnancy – but the abortion law reforms don't go far enough
Yesterday's vote to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales was historic. For the first time, Parliament made it clear: no woman should face prison for ending a pregnancy. Vulnerable women who seek to end a late-term pregnancy deserve compassion and support, not prosecution. This is a moment to call for lasting, meaningful reform because the fight for reproductive freedom is far from over. Under laws dating back to 1861, abortion has been treated not as healthcare, but as a crime. The law that still governed abortion – the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 – predates the lightbulb. It was written at a time when women couldn't vote, own property, or sit in Parliament, and yet anyone found guilty of an offence under the Act could face life imprisonment. Even the 1967 Abortion Act didn't change the threat of criminalisation but simply carved out narrow exceptions, for example, if it is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. Even now, a woman must get the approval of two doctors to access an abortion. No other medical procedure has been subject to statute or carries the threat of criminal prosecution. That's state control. In recent years, women have been investigated, prosecuted, and even jailed, sometimes for having late-term miscarriages. I represented a woman accused of murder in the most tragic of circumstances; fortunately, she was eventually cleared. These cases are traumatising and unjust. The criminalisation of abortion doesn't protect women, it punishes them. In my view, the experts, healthcare providers, must regulate abortion just like any other medical procedure. Yesterday's vote says: enough. But words must now become action. Every ongoing prosecution must be dropped. Every woman convicted under these laws must be pardoned. Their criminal records must be expunged. They should never have been criminalised in the first place. There's also no excuse for leaving the 1861 and 1967 Acts on the statute books. They must be repealed. They don't belong in a modern legal system. They belong in a museum, consigned to history books. Some argue that criminal law is needed to stop abusive men from coercing women into abortions. That insidious form of reproductive control must be tackled. But we already have laws on coercive control, and if required, new legislation could be introduced to address a lacuna in the law. Using Victorian abortion laws to address modern-day abuse does not work. The law has no democratic authority when women were regarded as second-class citizens. We must go further. Abortion must be enshrined in law as a human right. One in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Yet access remains patchy and precarious. Women still travel hundreds of miles for care. Clinics face harassment. Buffer zones are under threat. Doctors fear prosecution. This is not how a fair, compassionate country treats healthcare. What we need now is a comprehensive abortion law fit for the 21st century, one that fully decriminalises abortion; puts decision-making in the hands of women and healthcare professionals, not politicians; safeguards access to telemedicine; and invests in local, timely, and free services for all who need them Healthcare decisions should be made in consultation rooms, not courtrooms. Abortion is not a crime. It's healthcare. Yesterday's vote was urgent and overdue. But if we stop here, we leave millions of women at risk. Now is the time for full reform, not half measures. The question is not whether this goes too far; it's whether we're brave enough to go far enough.
