Woman jailed for illegally procuring her own abortion to appeal sentence

Carla Foster was handed a 28-month extended sentence after she admitted illegally procuring her own abortion when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard she was sent the drugs by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) after she called them during lockdown in 2020 and lied about how far along in her pregnancy she was.

Foster was initially charged with child destruction and pleaded not guilty, before pleading guilty to an alternative charge of administering drugs or using instruments to procure abortion.

Sentencing her last month, Mr Justice Pepperall said Foster will serve 14 months in custody and the remainder on licence after her release.

Foster is now due to appear at the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday to challenge her prison sentence, which had prompted a backlash from women’s groups.

During the sentencing hearing, the court heard Foster, who had three sons before becoming pregnant again in 2019, did not see a doctor about her pregnancy because she was “embarrassed” and did not know how far along she was.

The prosecution said Foster made several internet searches between February and May 2020, including “how to hide a pregnancy bump”, “how to have an abortion without going to the doctor” and “how to lose a baby at six months”.

Following the sentencing, women’s human rights programme director at Amnesty International UK Chiara Capraro described the decision to prosecute over a law from 1861 as “shocking and quite frankly terrifying”.

BPAS chief executive Clare Murphy said “no woman can ever go through this again” and called for MPs to protect women in desperate circumstances so they are never threatened with prison.

The appeal hearing before Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Holroyde and Mrs Justice Lambert is due to begin at 10.30am.