- Sentence reduced for mother who took abortion pills during lockdown
- Court of Appeal describes case as “very sad” and calls for compassion
- Calls for reform of abortion law in response to the verdict
A mother who illegally took abortion medication during a lockdown was released by the Court of Appeals. She will be released from prison.
Carla Foster, age 45, acknowledged illegally procuring her abortion between 32 and 34 weeks into her pregnancy.
Last month, a judge sentenced her to half a 28-month prison term and half probation.
The Court of Appeal, however, lowered the sentence to 14 months suspended.
On Tuesday in London, Dame Victoria Sharp called the case “very sad.
“It is a case that calls for compassion, not punishment,” Dame Victoria stated.
Foster appeared via video link from Foston Hall prison in Derbyshire at the hearing.
The Staffordshire mother of three was sentenced to prison on June 12 by the Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
She moved back in with her ex-partner during the lockdown, the court heard.
After telling BPAS personnel she was seven weeks pregnant, she received birth control pills by mail.
Although abortion is lawful for up to 24 weeks, the procedure must be performed in a clinic after 10 weeks.
On 11 May 2020, after taking the abortion tablets, she informed emergency services that she was in labor.
The infant was born without respiration during the call and was declared deceased approximately 45 minutes later.
Foster was originally accused of child abuse, which she denied.
The prosecution accepted her later guilty plea to an alternative allegation under section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861, administering drugs or using instruments to procure an abortion.
Absence of contact with minors
Dame Victoria told the court that Foster’s detention served “no useful purpose” and that her case had “exceptionally strong mitigation.”
Barry White, Foster’s attorney, said the epidemic intensified her anxiety and there were no “vital reports” on her mental health.
Foster’s 35-day incarceration prevented her from communicating with her autistic children, the Court of Appeals heard.
Mr. White emphasized that Ms. Foster had proactively disclosed her actions to the police and added, “Had she not done so, it is extremely unlikely that she would have ever been prosecuted.”
The Crown Prosecution Service’s Robert Price stated that the original sentence was not “manifestly excessive” and that the judge had “correctly accounted for mitigating circumstances in this unusually delicate case.”
In addition to the 14-month suspended prison sentence, Foster must complete up to 50 days of community service.
‘Cruel, antiquated law’
Clare Murphy, chief executive officer of the BPAS, stated that she was “delighted” that the mother would be released from prison and advocated for a change in the law in response to the verdict.
“Today, the court of appeal acknowledged that this cruel, outmoded law does not reflect the values of contemporary society,” she said.
“Now is the time to reform abortion law so that no more women are criminalized unjustly for taking desperate actions during desperate times in their lives.”
However, Right to Life UK urged the government to oppose legislative changes and demanded a “comprehensive investigation” into how BPAS came to ship Foster’s abortion pills.
Catherine Robinson, a spokesperson for the group, stated, “Campaigners, led by BPAS, are using this tragic case to call for the removal of more abortion safeguards and the introduction of abortion up until birth throughout the United Kingdom.”
“At least 32 weeks gestation, or approximately eight months, [the infant] was a fully formed human child. If BPAS had provided her mother with an in-person appointment, she would still be alive,” she added.
Stella Creasy, a member of parliament, tweeted that decriminalization was necessary in abortion cases and termed the extant law “archaic.”
“The relief that this woman can return home to her children is tempered by the knowledge that more cases of women in England being prosecuted and investigated are on the horizon,” the Labour MP said.
