AIBU to think throwing a mum-of-four in prison for having an abortion is never the answer?

[therescoffeeinthatnebula]

Spotted this on Twitter and haven't seen it already being discussed.

Apparently, a woman is being sentenced today for having an abortion over the limit during lockdown. I don't know of the circumstances (can't find anything other than the Sunday Times article), only that she already had four children and claims she didn't know exactly how far along she was.

I think most of us would agree making medical appointments during lockdown was bloody difficult and that it's even harder to attend any appointment if you have children, given you're not normally allowed to take them with you.

Whatever the truth, I'm appalled to see a woman potentially thrown in prison for trying to seek an abortion during lockdown, especially when you look at how violence against women is treated. I'd have thought referring her for mandatory counselling would be more of an appropriate outcome than prison because finding out you aborted what could have been a viable baby has got to mess with anyone's head.

It's all very sad - she should have been able to access proper services earlier - but prison, to me, should never have been on the table as a consequence.

I didn't actually realise that abortion in this country was blanket illegal and that our rights to seek abortions up to the limit are actually exceptions to that law rather than a piece of legislation that stands on its own.

Surely then if that’s the case they should retrospectively assess whether this woman would have been eligible and drop the charges ?

Also what’s your definition of when it’s not necessary? If a woman decides she wants an abortion she should have one.

And yes Thankyou iv had extensive therapy for what happened to me . It was extremely traumatic and made me aware at such a young age that no matter which choice - to keep a baby or to abort that a woman’s choice is the only choice that matters

The thread says the fetus was 32/34 weeks and that she delivered a still born baby after taking the pills.

Infanticide would be killing a child. Fuck off back to SPUC.

Isnt that why she is in a court being sentenced?

Gosh, that is an aspect of lockdown trouble that has never occurred to me. There must be many women who were forced to have an unwanted child because they couldn't access medical care, I guess. Poor women and poor children.

This case is horrendous. Prison is not the answer, I don't think, but I would view it as taking a life by 28 weeks and most certainly by 32. But not everybody would agree with that. So, I don't know. Just very tragic.

I agree.

These statistics do not tell you how many women having repeat abortions were in abusive relationships. They're, therefore, meaningless.

Happens quite a lot. It’s called Rape. How do you know the way in which this child was conceived ??

No one forces someone to have sex? Are you taking the piss!

No one forces one to have sex- if person wants to there are 1001 ways to prevent it and good news is you can use many at the same time (hormonal and condoms) along with permanent solutions and if any doubt also morning after pill.

No there's not 1001 ways. The morning after pill also isn't 100% accurate. And yes people can be forced to have sex.

I’ve just used this service; not in a National lockdown and it’s not a straightforward as you’d assume. By the time I found out I was pregnant I was already 9 weeks after my last period date. I got in touch with BPAS immediately, only to be told they weren’t funded by NHS in my locality. So I privately funded - potentially would have been a further delay if I’d needed to get an NHS consultation. By the time I’d had a phone consultation, I was past the cut off for abortion pills by post and could only get them by doing a 250 mile round trip to a clinic the following day. If I hadn’t done this, I would have needed two further appointments (a scan and then surgical abortion). Both would have required childcare and the funds to travel.

i thought about misrepresenting the date of my last period, but decided against the risk. This is as someone who has private funds and childcare. In a lockdown, with 4 existing children, I can’t say what I may been desperate enough to do.

So she didnt know when she was raped,10-12 weeks ago or 32 weeks ago?

28 Weeks. That pour soul.

She had 4 children already, unlikely she didn't know she was more than 10 weeks pregnant.

Clearly there are no winners here but there has to be some protection against unborn children that are very close to term.

There is an offence of child destruction after the abortion limit. I think that applies here also.

What she did broke the law. On multiple charges.

"No one forces one to have sex"?

Have you heard of rape?

You do know being married doesn't magically prevent it from happening?

Husbands can rape their wives. Other men can rape married women.

A wedding ring is not a magical shield against unwanted and non-consensual sex.

And FWIW, I don't think a woman should ever be forced to admit if she's been raped. It's her choice to control who gets to know that.

bloopsie Go away. You are disgusting. This woman was clearly desperate. These were not the actions of a happy woman. She must have been terrified.

Are you denying rape? ?

might have been more than once of that’s the case

Might have been once

She may have known or not known …. She may have been scared or having MH issues due to any number of factors.

She just needed to have that choice and she didn’t so clearly acted out of absolute desperation . We shouldn’t judge

cycle tracking,condom,hormonal
methods or permanent solutions like sterilisation,which she would have been offered after 4th child and which is FREE on the nhs

I agree. I find it hard to believe she'd not have know she was 34 weeks pregnant if she's already had 4 kids. 34 weeks is almost full term. Babies survive weeks and weeks earlier than that. I'm sorry but it's disgusting and she absolutely should face the consequences. I believe in women having rights to their own body but that doesn't extend to killing an almost full term child.

So narrow minded. It is incredibly sad what happened not going to say it wasn’t, and I’m sure she didn’t do it with a big smile on her face! But the reality is that her living breathing children need her and their well-being should be put first now.

Or do you just not care about living children?

It's obviously not in the public interest for this woman to go to prison if she has 4 other children, and it's really sad it's come to this.

However - it is clear that she did know she was almost into the 3rd trimester, and despite that chose to lie when procuring the medication. Obviously wrong, but sad rather than deserving of prison.

Interesting that everyone invested in the outcome for the fétus, is far less concerned about the outcomes for her existing four live children. I imagine (quite rightly) that they were here priority over the unborn child.

@HomeEducator I am sure they will look carefully at her mental health and all other factors, and that will factor into any sentencing. I don't agree a woman should be able to have an abortion whenever she wants one, as I think society would suffer if we have no qualms about terminating viable foetuses. However, we live in a democracy and you have your views, I have mine! I am glad you have had counselling, and again I am so sorry to hear of your trauma.