UK mum Carla Foster jailed for taking abortion pills after 32 weeks

Carla Foster, 44, admitted illegally inducing her abortion during lockdown when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant, The Sun reported.

Abortions are generally only legal in the UK before 24 weeks and are carried out in clinics after 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Foster was sent abortion-causing drugs by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) after she called them during lockdown in 2020 and lied about how far along in her pregnancy she was, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard on Monday.

The prosecution said Foster made a number of internet searches between February and May 2020, including “how to hide a pregnancy bump”, “how to have an abortion without going to the doctor” and “how to lose a baby at six months”.

Foster, who had three sons before becoming pregnant again in 2019, did not see a doctor about her pregnancy because she was “embarrassed” and did not know how far along she was, the court was told.

She spoke to a nurse practitioner at BPAS, an abortion care service, on May 6, 2020 and, based on her answers to questions about her pregnancy, it was determined she was only around seven weeks pregnant and she was sent abortion pills in the post.

Days later, on May 11, 2020, having taken the pills, a 999 call was made at 6.39pm saying the woman was in labour.

Her child was born during the course of the phone call, prosecutors told the court.

The baby was not breathing and despite resuscitation attempts by paramedics, who arrived at the scene at about 7pm, she was pronounced dead at hospital around 45 minutes later.

A post-mortem examination determined the child was between 32 and 34 weeks’ gestation when born.

Her cause of death was recorded as stillbirth and maternal use of abortion drugs.

Foster was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty.

She later pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion, which was accepted by the prosecution.

The maximum sentence is life imprisonment.

Prosecuting, barrister Mr Robert Price said: “She lied to BPAS about how pregnant she was so they sent the tablets to her.

“She said she had not seen a doctor about her pregnancy because she was embarrassed.

“While the baby was not full term, she was approaching that stage of development. Multiple and prolonged internet searches showed a level of planning.

“The taking of the drugs was a planned and deliberate act in which her intention could only have been to procure an abortion.”

Mr Justice Pepperall acknowledged it was an emotive case and said it was more “tragic” because Foster did not plead guilty earlier, adding that he may have been able to consider suspending the jail sentence if she had.

He said Foster, who was given a 28-month extended sentence, will serve 14 months in custody and the remainder on licence after her release.

Clare Murphy, chief executive of BPAS, said: “We are shocked and appalled by the decision to sentence a mother-of-three to 28 months in prison for using abortion pills to end her own pregnancy.

“No woman can ever go through this again.

“In their sentencing remarks, the judge made it that women will only be protected from prosecution if MPs bring forward legal change.

“There has never been a clearer mandate for parliamentary action, and the need has never been so urgent.”

Centre for Women’s Justice director Harriet Wistrich questioned how the prosecution was in the public interest.

“What possible purpose is served in criminalising and imprisoning this woman, when at most she needs better access to healthcare and other support?” she said.

“She is clearly already traumatised by the experience and now her children will be left without their mother for over a year.

“When most forms of violence against women and girls go unpunished this sentence confirms our very worst fears about contemporary attitudes to women’s basic human rights and an utterly misdirected criminal justice system.”

Women’s human rights program director at Amnesty International UK Chiara Capraro said the decision to prosecute was “shocking and quite frankly terrifying”.

“This is a tremendously sad story and underscores the desperate need for legal reform in relation to reproductive health,” she said.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission