A woman has been jailed after killing her unborn baby with illegally-obtained abortion pills when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant.
Carla Foster, 44, was sent abortion-inducing drugs by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS)—a leading abortion provider—after she called them during lockdown in 2020 and lied about how far along in her pregnancy she was, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard on Monday.
Days later, she gave birth to a baby girl who was not breathing and was subsequently pronounced dead.
In England, Scotland, and Wales, abortions are generally only legal before 24 weeks of pregnancy and can only be carried out in hospitals or clinics after 10 weeks.
Foster was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty.
She later pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861—administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion—which was accepted by the prosecution.
Foster, who was given a 28-month extended sentence, will serve 14 months in custody and the remainder on licence after her release.
Abortion providers, as well as pro-choice campaigners and politicians, have expressed outrage over Foster’s jailing, calling the existing abortion laws “out-of-date” and arguing for complete decriminalisation of abortion.
Pills in the Post
The prosecution said Foster made a number of internet searches between February and May 2020, including “how to hide a pregnancy bump,” “how to have an abortion without going to the doctor,” and “how to lose a baby at six months.”She spoke to a nurse practitioner at BPAS on May 6, 2020 and, based on her answers to questions about her pregnancy, it was determined she was only around seven weeks pregnant and she was sent abortion pills in the post.
A 999 call was made at 6:39 p.m. on May 11, 2020, saying the defendant was in labour.
Her child was born during the course of the phone call, prosecutors told the court.
The baby was not breathing and despite resuscitation attempts by paramedics, who arrived at the scene at about 7 p.m., she was pronounced dead at the hospital around 45 minutes later.
A post-mortem examination determined the child was between 32 and 34 weeks’ gestation when born.
Her cause of death was recorded as stillbirth and maternal use of abortion drugs.
‘Archaic’ Abortion Law
BPAS, which provided the defendant with the fatal pills, said it is “shocked and appalled” by the court’s decision and “no woman can ever go through this again.”Calling the existing abortion laws “archaic,” BPAS Chief Executive Clare Murphy said: “In 2020, MPs in Westminster amended the law in Northern Ireland to remove the threat of criminal sanction for any woman who attempted to end their own pregnancy. MPs must extend the same protection so that no more women in these desperate circumstances in the UK are ever threatened with prison again.”
She said BPAS will be taking to the streets in London on Saturday along with pro-choice campaigners from Women’s Equality Party and Fawcett Society to demand “legislative reform.”
Caroline Nokes, the Conservative MP who chairs the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, agrees that the law should be changed.
She told the BBC that the current legislation is “very, very out of date” and Parliament should “start looking at this issue in detail.”
‘Tragic Death of a Fully Viable Baby’
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), a British pro-life campaigning and educational organisation, rejected BPAS’s call and emphasised that this is “a horrifying case of a baby girl killed by an extremely late term abortion using DIY abortion drugs.”“Abortion providers and pro-abortion politicians who are outraged at a case being taken for taking abortions drugs ‘beyond the 10-week limit’ are not mentioning that we are talking about the tragic death of a fully viable baby of eight months,” said SPUC in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.
Noting that Foster “is filled with remorse and is relying on mental health services,” SPUC said, “The real fault in this tragedy lies strongly with abortion providers who pushed for dangerous home abortions and are now using this case to push for abortion up to birth.”
“The needless tragedy of this death and its consequences should shame abortion giants like BPAS. They make business from the ‘DIY Abortion’ policy which recklessly permits the distribution of deadly abortion drugs to be sent in the post,” said the statement.
SPUC said it is “appalling” that abortion giants like BPAS are “attempting to cover up this tragedy by calling for abortion to be entirely removed from the oversight of the law.”
‘No Plans’ for Law Change
Commenting on the row, the Crown Prosecution Service said the case was “complex and traumatic,” but added it has a “duty” to ensure laws are “properly considered and applied when making difficult charging decisions.”Downing Street said on Tuesday that there are no plans to change abortion laws or sentencing guidelines.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “Through the Abortion Act, all women have access to safe abortions on the NHS up to 24 weeks and we have made changes so that now includes taking abortion pills at home. We think this approach provides the right balance and … there are no plans to change this.”
The spokesman added: “We recognise that this is a highly emotive issue and obviously we recognise that the strength of feeling on all sides.”
