The Terrifying Rise In British Women Being Prosecuted For Abortion

‘We’ve had patients with post-traumatic stress disorder, severe psychological trauma, cases of self-harm, all as a result of being investigated [for abortion or pregnancy loss],’ says Dr Jonathan Lord, co-chair of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers. ‘Humans are hardwired to feel guilt during pregnancy loss, so a woman will be feeling wretched as it is, then to have NHS staff suspecting them of illegal abortion or being questioned by police just rams home that shame.’

This week, Bethany Cox, 22, was cleared over abortion charges when prosecutors offered no evidence against her. But she was the sixth woman in Great Britain in a year to be tried for illegal abortion, ie, a termination after the 24-week legal limit. She was charged with child destruction and procuring a miscarriage after using abortion pill misoprostol shortly after the first lockdown in 2020, aged 19. (She denied the charges).

Cox’s case follows that of Carla Foster, 45, a mother of three who was handed 28 months in prison in June for illegally taking abortion tablets to end her pregnancy after the legal limit. Following national outrage, she appealed and was instead granted a 14-month suspended sentence. And last month, Elliot Benham and Sophie Harvey, both 24, were tried for a pregnancy loss in 2018 when they were teenagers. They both pled guilty and Harvey faces life in prison while Benham faces seven years.

In the 160 years from 1861 to 2022, only three women were convicted of procuring an illegal abortion in Great Britain. Now, in just one year, the number of women facing conviction has nearly doubled – and Lord says he knows of at least 100 cases being investigated by the police since 2020, warning that numbers are rising. Right now, the law is murky. Historically, abortion carried a life sentence in England until 1967. When the 1967 Abortion Act came into force, it legalised abortion up to 24 weeks, but the initial 1861 law was never repealed – meaning abortion after 24 weeks still carries criminal sanctions.

‘The first thing police will do is remove the [woman’s] phone and computer,’ Lord explains. ‘They’ve experienced one of the most traumatic events of their lives, then because of the charge or arrest, they are isolated from everyone and can’t go home because it’s now considered a crime scene.’

In more extreme cases, women have called an ambulance for late-stage pregnancy loss and had police turn up first. ‘We’ve had a few barbaric cases where children have been removed from the home,’ Lord says. ‘Even where they haven’t been charged, or it hasn’t progressed, the moment children are removed it’s really hard to get them back again – a year down the line they’re still having extremely limited contact with their children.’

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has also noticed a stark change in police behaviour around abortion. Last spring, they say they received a call from Hampshire police requesting the details of every woman who had recently visited a BPAS clinic but been turned away because they were over the limit at which they could legally obtain an abortion, or anyone who had ‘disengaged having initially made inquiries to seek a termination’. They were investigating a case where a human placenta had been found in Southampton.

'We told the police that could be many hundreds of women,’ Clare Murphy, chief executive of BPAS, tells Grazia. ‘Lots of women get in touch then change their mind, that’s the nature of the service.’ They refused to hand over the details and told police they’d need a court order. When Grazia contacted Hampshire police they denied asking for the data.

So, what’s causing this rise in abortion investigations? Lord says 2018 was the turning point, when pro-choice groups successfully changed rules that dictated women must take two doses of mifepristone in a medical setting. Previously, women had reported miscarrying on their way home from GP surgeries, thus campaigners argued they should be able to take the second dose at home. It was a major win, but Lord believes it could have also inflamed anti- abortion groups.

Anti-abortion sentiment is a real fear right now, after women in some US states lost abortion rights in 2022. In the main, though, polling shows that Britain is still a majority pro-choice country – and Dr Claire Pierson, an abortion rights expert, says ‘it’s a stretch’ to believe that pro-life attitudes are behind the rise in prosecutions. She thinks it’s due to the rule change that allowed women to take mifepristone at home. ‘It was really forward-thinking and should continue, but without being able to present in front of a medical professional some of the basic checks weren’t happening. That’s where some of these prosecutions have emerged from.’

She also notes the rise in ‘overzealous’ medics reporting to the police women who visit them about late-stage pregnancy loss, which Lord agrees is a growing concern. ‘They have a sense that if they don’t report things, they will become liable for prosecution,’ Pierson explains. ‘There’s a tension between the duty for confidentially and reporting a crime.’

Ultimately, all the experts Grazia spoke to agree that decriminalisation of abortion is the only course of action to protect women. ‘That doesn’t necessarily mean everyone can access abortion, it just means you can’t be prosecuted for it,’ Pierson says. ‘Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have all decriminalised it; these are all countries with similar political and legal systems so there is no blockage... apart from political will.’ Murphy calls the strict laws the UK has around abortion ‘out of kilter with modern attitudes’.

When Grazia reached out to the Crown Prosecution Service about abortion prosecutions, a spokesperson said, ‘These exceptionally rare cases are complex and traumatic. Our prosecutors have a duty to ensure that laws set by Parliament are properly considered and applied.’

On its response to calls for legislative change, the Ministry of Justice told us, ‘All women have access to safe and legal abortions on the NHS. Decisions to prosecute in England and Wales are for the CPS, and any change to the law would be a matter for individual MPs rather than the Government.’

So if it’s down to our MPs then perhaps it’s time to start lobbying for decriminalisation.