Thousands march to decriminalise abortion after woman jailed for ending pregnancy

thousands protesters called for the acquittal of abortion marched in central London after outrage in conviction of one Woman to finish it pregnancy Beyond the legal cut-off of 24 weeks.

campaigners insist that “abortion is Health carenot a crime”, after Carla Foster, 44, was sentenced this week to 28 months in prisonGetting medicines to end your pregnancy at 32 to 34 weeks during the lockdown.

After lying to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) about how far along her pregnancy was, a mother-of-two received abortion pills under the government’s “Pills by Post” initiative, which was introduced in the wake of the Covid crisis. In 2020.

Abortion providers, campaigners and politicians fiercely criticized the decision to jail her and called for an immediate reduction in abortion care in the UK.

According to Tabitha Morton, deputy leader of the Women’s Equality Party, more than 2,000 protesters turned out for the demonstration on Saturday.

After meeting at The Royal Courts of Justice and marching to Westminster for a rally, he told The Independent that it was a day of “amazing energy”, with an “amazing turnout”, adding: “The public like passers-by It was great to see the tourists supporting us and cheering us on.”

It’s such an important message that these “outdated” abortion laws are still in force, he said, citing an 1861 law that states that anyone attempting to end her own pregnancy outside of a set of strict criteria can The woman could face up to life imprisonment. Which was used to prosecute the mother of three children. “You can’t help but be angry. The court decided to take a woman away from her children – who benefits from it? It reminded me that it’s about who controls us and our bodies, what ever Not the best for kids.

Kerry Abel, president of the campaign group Abortion Rights, described the sentiments in the march as “angryly sad”, saying: “I’m glad people have come out. We need to stand up and fight back when things like this happen.” . Jail time for someone who is managing their own pregnancy is something we have to come out for. Queen Victoria was ruling when the 1861 law was enacted. Punishment drips from the misdemeanor.

referred to the overturning of Roe v Wade Last year in the US, which ended the constitutional right to abortion in some states, Ms Abel echoed similar fears to Ms Morton when she said: “Since then, we have been fearful there will be a rollback. Secretly in the UK I am concerned about taking back abortion rights.

“Abortion is not something you can push back into the streets. It will just be made more dangerous.”

Before the Abortion Act was enacted in 1967, an underground network of backstreet abortionists operated quietly across the country, as an estimated 100,000 women were coerced into having unsafe, illegal abortions.

But, although an important and progressive step, the law still only allows abortions up to 24 weeks and requires the sign-off of two doctors.

In light of the reality that one in three women in the UK will have an abortion in her lifetime, both Ms Morton and Ms Abel stressed that “abortion is health care” and both called for its immediate and complete decriminalisation. have been

These calls have popular support, with nine out of 10 UK adults believing that women should be able to access abortion services in this country, according to a YouGov poll.

Ms Morton said the key was raising awareness of the law, but added she hoped change was coming, adding: “The one thing they can’t take away from us is our hope.”

Ms Abel said: “We have to keep coming out. There are more of us who need and want fair abortion laws because it’s normal, it’s health care – it’s not a crime. We need to protect people’s bodies. should not be monitored.