A 44-year-old mother of three was sentenced Monday to more than two years in an English prison for medically inducing an abortion about eight months into her pregnancy.
Justice Edward Pepperall in Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court said the “tragic” case required him to balance the woman’s reproductive rights with the rights of the fetus and said the sentence might deter others from exceeding the 24-week limit on abortions.
Pepperall said the mother could have avoided prison if she had pleaded guilty sooner and that he was sentencing her despite her “deep and genuine remorse” and the fact that her children, including one with special needs, would suffer without her.
UK MAN FINED FOR SILENTLY PRAYING OUTSIDE ABORTION CLINIC: REPORT
A 44-year-old English woman was sentenced Monday for taking abortion-inducing pills nearly one month before her pregnancy was full term. (Fox News)
Evidence found the woman had conducted several internet searches for ending her pregnancy, including one that said, “I need to have an abortion but I’m past 24 weeks,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
“While the baby was not full term, she was approaching that stage of development,” prosecutor Robert Price said. “Multiple and prolonged internet searches showed a level of planning.”
Supporters of abortion rights criticized the sentence as unnecessarily harsh and called for an end to criminalizing abortion.
Pepperall said they shouldn’t have sent the letter, saying it was as inappropriate as abortion opponents lobbying the court.
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A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said criminalizing abortion was proper in the right circumstances.