Thursday 8th May 2025
In response to today's (8th May 2025) verdict of not guilty in the case of a woman prosecuted under English abortion law, Katie Saxon, Chief Strategic Communications Officer at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS, said:
"A woman who sought medical attention after experiencing a traumatic event has had to endure a protracted police investigation and public trial, her private life picked apart by prosecutors and reported in the national press, at a huge emotional and financial cost. Prosecuting women for ‘illegal’ abortion is never in the public interest, and no woman should ever have to go through this again
"In recent years, we have seen record numbers of women investigated for suspected illegal abortions. Women are being arrested straight from the hospital ward, their homes searched, and their children taken away. This cannot continue. Members of Parliament have a moral duty to decriminalise abortion for women and end the threat of police, prosecutions, and imprisonment once and for all."
ENDS
For further information, please contact Katherine O’Brien, Head of Campaigns and Communications at BPAS, on 07881 265276 or email katherine.obrien@bpas.org
Notes
Abortion in England and Wales is still a criminal offence. Under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, having or providing an abortion remains a crime that carries a life sentence. Women accessing abortion in Great Britain do so under the Abortion Act 1967, which did not decriminalise abortion but simply made it legal in certain, fixed circumstances. In 2019, Westminster voted to repeal the laws criminalising women in Northern Ireland, but they remain in force in England and Wales.
Increasing numbers of women in England and Wales are facing criminal prosecution under the 1861 law, passed before women even had the right to vote. In the past three years in England, 6 women have appeared in court charged with ending or attempting to end their own pregnancy outside of the terms of the 1967 Abortion Act. Abortion providers say for every woman who ends up in court, at least 10 others are subjected to prolonged police investigations which can prevent them from getting the mental health support they desperately need and which have resulted in existing children being separated from women whose cases never make it to court.
About BPAS
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS, is a charity that sees over 100,000 women a year for reproductive healthcare services including pregnancy counselling, abortion care, miscarriage management and contraception at clinics across Great Britain.
BPAS exists to further women’s reproductive choices. We believe all women should have the right to make their own decisions in and around pregnancy, from the contraception they use to avoid pregnancy right the way through to how they decide to feed their newborn baby, with access to evidence-based information to underpin their choices and high-quality services and support to exercise them.
BPAS also runs the Centre for Reproductive Research and Communication, CRRC. Through rigorous multidisciplinary research and impactful communication, the CRRC aims to inform policy, practice, and public discourse. You can find out more here.