UK: Mother Jailed Over Late-Term Abortion

Facts

On Monday, a 44-year-old mother of three was sentenced to 28 months in prison for medically inducing an abortion approximately 32-34 weeks into her pregnancy.¹
The woman reportedly received abortion pills under the UK government's "pills by post" program, introduced during the pandemic to allow individuals to have at-home abortions up to 10 weeks of pregnancy following a remote consultation.²
Prosecutors allege the woman misled British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) consultants so as to access the pills by stating she was below the legal cut-off when she thought she was approximately 28 weeks pregnant.²
It has been reported that the woman entered labor 5 days after taking the abortion pills, and gave birth while on an emergency call to healthcare professionals. The child was declared dead at the hospital, followed by a post-mortem that revealed the accurate stage of the pregnancy.³
The woman has claimed she was too "embarrassed" to see a doctor after becoming pregnant for a fourth time, and could not learn how far along she was in her pregnancy during the COVID lockdown.⁴
The unidentified mother in March pleaded guilty to obtaining the abortion pills in violation of the 1861 Offenses against the Person Act, though she pleaded not guilty to child destruction.⁵

Left narrative, as provided by Guardian. This unnecessarily harsh sentence is a damning indictment of archaic abortion laws in England, which are based on criminal sanctions instead of healthcare considerations. Moreover, the judgment attacks women's rights and risks deterring women from lawfully seeking safer and legal recourse within the 24-week limit. The country must overhaul its reproductive justice laws instead of criminalizing women for having an abortion.
Right narrative, as provided by National Review. Abortion laws in the UK balance a woman's right to access safe and legal abortions with the protection of unborn children. The legal framework reinforces the state's commitment to preserving the sanctity of all life. Since British women are not deprived of their bodily autonomy, it's unfair to argue the laws are discriminatory, especially if the assertion is based on a just ruling against a woman who lied so as to illegally access abortion.