woman sentenced to 8 years for 38-week home abortion

[WokingOnSunshine]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-19621675
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204471/Mother-Sarah-Catt-terminated-baby-week-date-using-medication.html

Wasn't there a babys body parts found in a London park a few days ago?

Baby drop boxes are the worst idea....a baby isn't like a mobile phone, ipod etc just to discard.

Plus it's not good for the mother, a mother just abandoning a baby needs proper counselling too. Surely with a welfare system and social services in place like in the UK nobody needs to abandon a baby in a drop box like a casual unwanted gift. While it will always happen, thankly cases of it are rare and if a young or any mum to be finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy hopefully she will be able to find the right health and SW professionals to help her come to term with whatever decision she makes

It's not a drop box, it's handing it over to a doctor or firefighter. There are some women who would toss it in a dumpster if they had to sit around and answer questions. :(

Enorma- yes, but the pregnancy in question was in 2010 so I very much doubt there is a connection.

But that is another very sad news story

Thanks edam

Joanna Jepson, it was edam. Sleb vicar. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Jepson

Apparently she deliberately delivered the baby at home without the assistance of a midwife... without meaning to be pedantic isn't that against the law too?

TBH, the people involved in the case have described her as cold, with no remorse. She sounds a bit mentally ill

Is it just me or are there a lot of stories of women being cruel or trying to kill their children atm? Or are they just being reported more these days?

and drop boxes seem like a very good idea but how much would they cost to start up and running? Surely abandoning a baby in an A&E would have the same kind of effect. (sorry if this is an ignorant comment but it is a new concept to me)

Lots of people are saying she sounds 'mentally ill'.

Is it possible for someone to be just an awful person? Or is there a point where their actions are so bad that by definition they must be mentally ill?

It's just really hard to be able to see it from her side... I really struggle to see why she let it get to that point then (allegedly) showed no remorse for the situation.

There might be a lot of information that we don't know about the situation but on the surface it does sound like she is mentally ill. I do see what you're saying though mumtomoley There does seem to be a weird line between MH problems and just being a bad person that is a bit blurry.

I think she just didn't want her husband to find out she was having an affair.

Poor little baby. :(

What a tragedy. I don't really see what purpose is served by imprisoning her - except to punish someone who didn't co-operate with the police.

Seriously? You think that's all she's done wrong?

The whole thing makes me sick and I think the sentence is probably about right. She knew she did a terrible thing and admitted it.

Drop boxes have been a success in many countries, such as South Africa. Something like 2600 babies were abandoned there last year. (most not in drop boxes.)

I was struggling to see the logic of her taking abortion drugs too, until I realised that she did this while her husband was away. So what I imagine is
she got pregnant, assumed it belonged to the man she was having an affair with
it was too late to terminate
she concealed the pregnancy from her husband
she took the abortion drugs to induce labour THAT DAY so baby would be born while her husband was away
she had the baby which was either stillborn, murdered or given away

Of course she should be jailed. Prison is not just to serve a purpose for the offender, it is to make it clear to EVERYONE that laws are laws for a reason and you can't just break them if you feel like it. It is not legal to take abortion drugs except under certain circumstances as mentioned above, so presumably they have prosecuted on that basis because they do not have a body to prove a murder charge.

in terms of the abortion act, abortion is permitted up to 24 weeks - this was last debated in parliament in 2008. If there are serious foetal abnormalities, abortion can take place after this time. Here is a link to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists fact sheet about Cleft Palate and late abortion - although it is not as clear as it could be it does seem to show that they are supportive of this law/policy being continued rather than changed.

Maybe the baby would have been mixed race, thus exposing her affair as it couldn't be passed off has her husbands or adopted etc without raising questions?

hidden I hate the constant comparisons to personality disorder a ND mental health also!

Had she been mentally ill she would be in a psych hosp! Just accept she us a cold callous mother.... A bad person. A mother CAN be a bad person.

if abortion is allowed to term fir dusabled babies it should be allowed to term.for all babies. its not going to be a decision taken lightly by anyone.

re cleft palate this can be a serious disability not fixable by surgery. it can affect the firmation if the skull and be incompatible with life in very sevre cases, tho rare.

what this woman did was wrong but i do wonder what is going on in someones life that they feel.this is the only option.

5madthings I don't think it should be the same for both-why kill a baby so late on if he or she is going to live a perfectly normal life?

why not? by saying disabled babies can.be aborted you are essentially saying their lives are worth less and they are 'disposable' in a way that a non disabled or nt baby is not, that is wrong imo.

Because disabled babies have as much right to life as non disabled babies.

And I am pro choice.

Late term should be for all babies or none.

thankyou mrsdevere you said it so much better than me.

I am speechless!!!

There are, I think, only about a hundred late term abortions (for medical reasons) annually in the UK. Over 90% of other abortions happen in the first trimester.

A change in law to allow mothers and hcps to determine who can abort post 24 weeks wouldn't change these figures. These are extreme situations.

A perfect 'normal' life prized above all else pumpkin? That's the logic behind eugenics.

I'm afraid I disagree in a way 5madthings unless a mother who chooses to abort at a very late stage, also agrees to be sterilised. Aborting a baby at term 'just because you can' should mean you forfeit your right to reproduce again.