BOOK ONLINE

Please select the service you would like to book:

search-button

MSI comment on news that woman sentenced for ending her own pregnancy will be released following appeal

Press releases  •  18 July 2023  • 2 min read

Share






Copied


London, 18th July 2023

A woman who was sentenced in June for ending her own pregnancy will be released from prison after the Court of Appeal reduced her sentence today.

On 12th June 2023, in a rare and distressing case, a woman was sentenced for ending her own pregnancy outside the parameters of the Abortion Act 1967. The Act makes abortion legal under certain specific circumstances. As part of the original sentence, she was told she would serve half of her 28-month term in custody.

Today, the Court of Appeal has reduced her sentence to 14 months and ruled it should be suspended, meaning that she will be released from prison as the judge described her case as one which ‘calls for compassion, not punishment’.

Louise McCudden, UK Head of External Affairs at MSI Reproductive Choices, commented:

“The Court of Appeal was right to recognise that this distressing case should have been treated with compassion and not punishment.

It is not in the public interest to send someone to prison for ending their own pregnancy.”

– Ends –

For further information please contact:

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +44 (0) 7769 166 516

To learn more:

At MSI Reproductive Choices, we believe that criminal law has no place in abortion care.

To learn more about why we are calling for the decriminalisation of abortion in Great Britain, click on the links below:


Share






Copied

Related posts

News


18 July 2023  • 3 min read

MSI Reproductive Choices UK comment on UK Government vote in favour of abortion clinic buffer zones

MSI UK comment on UK government vote in favour of national legislation on abortion clinic safe access zones.

News


18 July 2023  • 4 min read

MSI Comment on Abortion Statistics for England and Wales: January to June 2022

Our summary of the 2022 abortion statistics for England and Wales.

News


18 July 2023  • 11 min read

More than a third of UK women unsure how to access contraception during COVID-19

New data released ahead of World Contraception Day, reveals UK women’s needs have been neglected during the