What the hell is going on in the UK? Police are checking periods apps to look for abortions

[Soubriquet]

They have defended their actions and said they are looking for illegal abortions

link

They are also checking women’s houses

Under his eye indeed

I don't think people will click on a hidden link like that OP.

It’s a perfectly safe link…

Here’s a link from https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/period-tracking-apps-outraged-new-35271403.amp
the mirror]] if people don’t want to select the tyla link

Why do you need an app for your periods??? Just use a calendar or diary.....

Which the police would just check instead. Why does it matter whether its an app or a pen and paper?! What a strange response.

YANBU, OP. I believe there is a proposed amendment to a bill in parliament that is to try and stop police pursuing women who have had abortions. Hopefully it passes.

BBC News - MPs set to vote on decriminalising abortion in England and Wales
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5v900v1y6o

A pen and paper can't be tracked digitally. A pen and paper version can be binned or burnt.

I listened to a really interesting podcast about this recently, with two KCs, the head of Bpas and a consultant gynaecologist: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/double-jeopardy-uk-law-and-politics/id1633485236?i=1000709223025

The episode blurb:

In three of the four nations of the UK, abortion remains a crime under legislation passed in 1861, subject to the exemptions from criminal liability in the Abortion Act 1967. Paradoxically, abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019, so that it is now seen as a matter of healthcare rather than the criminal law. Recent prosecutions in England under section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 have reignited debate over whether abortion belongs in the criminal courts at all – www.theguardian.com/society/2025/may/13/i-hate-sitting-in-silence-now-nicola-packer-on-clearing-her-name-after-the-trauma-of-her-abortion-trial
doctorsforchoiceuk.com/abortionlaw#:~:text=UK%20abortion%20law%3A%20Overview&text=In%201967%2C%20Parliament%20passed%20the,if%20authorised%20by%20two%20doctors.
In this special 100th episode of Double Jeopardy, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by two leading voices in the campaign for reform: Rachael Clarke, Head of Advocacy at BPAS (the British Pregnancy Advisory Service) and Trustee of Compassion in Dying; and Jonathan Lord, NHS Consultant Gynaecologist and Co-Chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Abortion Taskforce.
Together, they explore the rise in criminal investigations into pregnancy loss and self-managed abortion, the implications of recent cases like Carla Foster (www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/20231018-R-v-FOSTER-final-approved-1.pdfand) and Sarah Catt, and the human cost of criminalising desperate women. They unpack new national policy guidance issued by the National Police Chiefs’ Council on investigating stillbirths and miscarriages; the troubling use of digital surveillance in reproductive cases, and the proposed cross-party amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that would finally remove women from the scope of the criminal law, thereby eliminating the bizarre distinction between the law of Northern Ireland and the other nations of the UK.
What is the justification for threatening a woman with life imprisonment for ending a pregnancy?
And why has Parliament decriminalised abortion in Northern Ireland, but not in the rest of the UK?
This episode offers insider legal and medical perspectives on one of the most polarising and poorly understood areas of UK law—at a moment when calls for reform are louder than ever.
--
Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights.

It was well worth a listen imo, for the legal background info it gave.

@NewUserIDRequired not a strange response at all. Personally I can't see why you need an app to track your periods. Simple really

Before this, I wouldn’t have thought twice. I use an app. It allows me to know when I’m going to have PMS issues. When I’m going to bleed, and when the doctors ask when my last period was, it’s right there in my phone and easy to access.

It's easier to use an app. I also record when I have sex.

@Soubriquet agree but most wonen have fairly regular cycles (28-31 days). I know not everyone has regular periods though.

Mine are around every 5 weeks, but I have horrendous memory problems. So I wouldn’t be able to say off the top of my head even with a calendar. With the app I can be certain to the day and how long it was.

for example, I’m due on in around 9 days. So I’m now in my PMS state which means I’m quite blue all the time. This is handy for my dh because he knows I don’t like to be bothered and annoyed when I’m feeling blue.

@Soubriquet fair enough. Every womans periods are different. I'm just old school and always used a diary. However I don't think its necessary for the police to be checking up on women's periods.....noaey buggers

I might get rid of mine then as I have adhd and I forget to use it and it thinks I’m having a 87 day cycle currently 😂

Horrifying. Plenty of women sadly have miscarriages, why on earth are the police looking at this rather than endemic sexual assault? Are they looking at men's phones to see if they're accessing rape videos, abuse, CSAM?

Same here. I have PCOS and my cycles can be anything from 36 to (on the very worst) 90 days! When we had our fertility treatment for DD1, the app allowed me to download the data for two years and just give it to the consultant, who then added it into her data to help inform what our plan would be.

You are so spectacularly missing the point. I’m not sure if it’s on purpose?

The beginning of the thread just says it all doesn’t it. Nothing wrong with the police invading our privacy and stripping away our dignity and rights.

women should just learn not to privately keep a record of intimate information because it’s free game to come raid it. Nothing wrong with the system, the woman shouldn’t have used an app, just like she shouldn’t have worn a short skirt.

Police looking at women’s phones? Ah, ok. The way the patriarchy “protects” women.

This country is in decline.

Why are you comparing forced rape and child baring, with that child taken away, to having an abortion out side of the legal and easy and free method the NHS provides?

Back to the period app thing. Dd uses it. At her age (13), she would aghast at the thought of writing it down. Why write anything when you can use a phone?

This is probably the most natural way for younger woman, ie woman (and girls) who don’t want to get pregnant and would mostly likely want an abortion.

Anyway they should be able to use an app if they want. The reason for not using one should not be fear of the Police!

Of course they can use the app. It's about evidence for illegal abortions. So don't get an illegal abortion and you have nothing to fear

Thank you for sharing this, I'm 20 minutes in and my jaw is on the floor.

I dont have either i just wait until it shows up.
Im never on the same day so never seen the point in keeping track.

So you knew that but you still couldn't imagine why anyone would want to use an app? Anyway, how do you know what proportion of women have regular periods? You realise that perimenopausal women often don't? That's a lot of women.

Besides, why would your response to an invasion of women's privacy be to question the women's behaviour?