Campaigners are calling for a reform of the UK's abortion law after the woman faced with the potential of a maximum life sentence
A law dating back to 1861 has been used to prosecute a woman for ending her own pregnancy in the UK.on Monday for administering drugs to procure abortion, contrary to the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
The judge added that it was up to Parliament to change the law, and for those who object to the law to lobby Parliament, whereas it was his job to apply the law as it stands.Foster was sentenced under section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. It legislates against pregnant woman “who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, shall unlawfully administer to herself any poison or other noxious thing”.
She said: “They [the CPS] clearly passed what’s called the evidential test in this case, in that she’s admitted herself that she has administered these drugs late on and she’s given birth to a stillborn child. So she hasn’t got a defence in law to the facts of the case.She said a recent revision to the CPS code has made it harder to avoid prosecutions that may not be in the public interest.
Clare Murphy, chief executive of BPAS, said: “We are shocked and appalled by the decision to sentence a mother-of-three to 28 months in prison for using abortion pills to end her own pregnancy.
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