Mother jailed for taking abortion pills after legal limit

[rjfp1962]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffo...

[Scrump]

What a tragic story. So many lives ruined.
I don’t want to speculate on what drove her to do this, but it is an awful decision she felt she had to make.

[Nemophilist]

I don’t understand how she ended up with such a sentence.
Some peadophiles end up with shorted suspended sentences than this.

The public aren’t at risk from this women. Why lock her up?
I feel for her children who are now left with a mother behind bars

[Jim the Sunderer]

I'm not fond of MP Stella's comments:
"The average prison sentence for a violent offence in England is 18 months. A woman who had an abortion without following correct procedures just got 28 months under an 1868 act- we need urgent reform to make safe access for all women in England, Scotland and wales a human right."

"without following correct procedures" like she's just ordered office stationery from Amazon rather than the usual supplier.

Jesus Christ, Stella.

[gregs656]

Jim the Sunderer said:

I'm not fond of MP Stella's comments:
"The average prison sentence for a violent offence in England is 18 months. A woman who had an abortion without following correct procedures just got 28 months under an 1868 act- we need urgent reform to make safe access for all women in England, Scotland and wales a human right."

"without following correct procedures" like she's just ordered office stationery from Amazon rather than the usual supplier.

Jesus Christ, Stella.

I think she’s spot on

[Oakey]

gregs656 said:

I think she’s spot on

Why?

She was almost full term and basically killed an unborn child.

[SmoothCriminal]

Oakey said:

gregs656 said:

I think she’s spot on

Why?

She was almost full term and basically killed an unborn child.

Sickos like Creasy probably support termination up until birth.

It is right and proper this women got locked up, she wasn't a couple of days out she was weeks and weeks and had ample time to get a legal abortion instead she lied and terminated pretty much a viable baby.

In b4 my body my choice, what about the babies choice.

[Catastrophic Poo]

Quite a way along and able to survive outside the womb without significant medical intervention.

Would be around a foot tall/long too.

[bloomen]

I don't what the sentence accomplishes, but considering the timing and deception it's a crime. It's a pretty unique set of circumstances which is why we hardly ever see this type of conviction.

[mac96]

The judge said he would have considered suspending the sentence had she pled guilty sooner. I wonder why she didn't. Whatever view you take of the law, a timescale is provided and she was outside it, so how could she have doubted that she would be found guilty? Is this not in law a fairly binary issue, like speeding?

I wonder whether she was given poor legal advice, or even misled by the campaigners into thinking she could be found NG.
A tragedy all around.

[gregs656]

Oakey said:

Why?

She was almost full term and basically killed an unborn child.

I don't think the UK system is a particularly good one. Clearly this woman was struggling alone for some time.

[ChocolateFrog]

Odd all round.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if the prison sentence is overturned on appeal.

Much more serious crimes routinely avoid jail or attract sentences measured in weeks.

Someone who terminates a 34 week pregnancy probably needs a hospital not a prison.

[Panamax]

ChocolateFrog said:

Wouldn't be at all surprised if the prison sentence is overturned on appeal.

Not a prayer.

ChocolateFrog said:

Much more serious crimes routinely avoid jail or attract sentences measured in weeks.

Killing an unborn child just before birth is a very serious crime indeed. It's pretty much identical to killing a child a few hours/days/weeks after birth.

"Birth" is not a sudden miraculous event, it's a point along a line.

[thebraketester]

I would be investigating how she managed to get the medication and holding them to account too. (Only skim read, maybe they are)

[paulw123]

Nemophilist said:

I don’t understand how she ended up with such a sentence.
Some peadophiles end up with shorted suspended sentences than this.

The public aren’t at risk from this women. Why lock her up?
I feel for her children who are now left with a mother behind bars

Maybe because she killed her child shortly before birth and well outside the legal abortion limits. Obviously women’s rights groups will get all shouty but without legal limits where do you draw the line.

[deckster]

thebraketester said:

I would be investigating how she managed to get the medication and holding them to account too. (Only skim read, maybe they are)

Telephone consultation during Covid. She lied through her teeth.

I am staunchly, passionately, pro-choice. But even then I see little difference between an abortion this late on and drowning the baby after you've given birth. I haven't looked into the circumstances of the mother but I can only imagine that her situation was pretty desperate such that she couldn't openly seek an earlier abortion. I do wonder if there might be an appeal on the grounds of diminished responsibility if she can show that the likely consequences of her pregnancy being found out were severe enough.

[speedyman]

Had she not heard of adoption?

[poo at Paul's]

Chosing to illegally abort her child, but then naming the baby? WTF.

The summing up in sentencing makes it clear why she got a custodial.

Grim indeed. What possesses such people?

Edited by poo at Paul's on Tuesday 13th June 00:02

[anonymous-user]

Imagine the difference if it had been a man that killed the unborn child.

Oh, wait ....

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/11/ma...

[anonymous-user]

paulw123 said:

Nemophilist said:

I don’t understand how she ended up with such a sentence.
Some peadophiles end up with shorted suspended sentences than this.

The public aren’t at risk from this women. Why lock her up?
I feel for her children who are now left with a mother behind bars

Maybe because she killed her child shortly before birth and well outside the legal abortion limits. Obviously women’s rights groups will get all shouty but without legal limits where do you draw the line.

There are laws around infanticide where women dont get sent to prison. Obviously the religious nutters will get frothy about this case.