Woman jailed for taking abortion pills after legal termination limit loses appeal

Carla Foster got hold of the pills under the government’s ‘pills by post’ scheme after lying about how far into her pregnancy she was

A 44-year-old was given a 28-month extended sentence after she admitted illegally procuring her own abortion late in her pregnancy (Alamy/PA)

A woman who was sentenced to more than two years in prison for taking abortion pills after the legal cut-off point has had an appeal against her sentence rejected.

Carla Foster, a mother of three, got hold of the pills under the government’s “pills by post” scheme that allows the termination of unwanted pregnancies up to 10 weeks.

Last week, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the 44-year-old, who fell pregnant in 2019, had lied to leading UK abortion provider British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) during a telephone consultation about how far along her pregnancy was so she could get hold of the pills.

The court heard Foster was between 32 to 34 weeks pregnant when she took them – with the judge, Justice Pepperall, saying the defendant felt “very deep and genuine remorse”, was “racked with guilt” and still had nightmares over her actions.

Dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice Pepperall said: “The imprisonment of Carla Foster has sparked a passionate public debate against the law to criminalise late-term abortions.

The Telegraph reported him as saying: “I was aware of the fact that this matter had been hanging over her since May 2020 and I took the delay into account together with all the other aggravating and mitigating factors in this case in determining the appropriate sentence after trial was three years, rather than five years, imposed by the Court of Appeal in R V Catt.

“As it happens, the delay was similar in Catt. I conclude there are no proper grounds for reconsidering the sentence and I dismiss the application.”

Mr Justice Peperall’s reference to R V Catt refers to a case which saw Sarah Catt, from North Yorkshire, jailed for eight years for having an abortion when she was 39 weeks pregnant in 2012.

Foster’s lawyers are still able to take the case to the Court of Appeal.

Abortions can legally be carried out within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy in England, Scotland and Wales. While medical abortions, which involve taking abortion pills, can only be conducted up to 10 weeks into pregnancy. Surgical abortions can be performed up to 23 weeks and six days into a pregnancy.

Abortions are still deemed a criminal act in England, Scotland and Wales under the 1967 Abortion Act. If a medical professional delivers an abortion outside of the terms of the 1967 act, they are at risk of being prosecuted. Legislation passed in 1861 means any woman who ends a pregnancy without getting legal permission from two doctors can face up to life imprisonment.