As a mother of three, in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown, a pregnant woman in Britain illegally ordered abortion pills. She now she has to go to prison.

In Britain, a woman was sentenced to more than two years in prison for an illegal abortion during the coronavirus lockdown. This is reported by the BBC news channel. Consequently, the 44-year-old woman had ordered abortive medications to her house and had taken them falsely indicating the week of her pregnancy.

The court heard that the mother-of-three said during a telephone consultation with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) that she was in her seventh week of pregnancy. This would have meant that she would have been home within the legal deadline for an abortion. In the UK, abortion is legal until the 24th week, but must be carried out in a clinic after the tenth week.

According to their information, the 44-year-old woman was sent medications through the “Pills by Mail” program, introduced during the coronavirus confinement, which, once taken, caused an abortion. However, after the successful abortion of the fetus, doctors discovered that the woman was not in the seventh week of pregnancy as claimed, but rather in the 32nd to 34th week of pregnancy.

In court, she was found guilty of knowingly misleading her about the week she was pregnant and therefore performing an illegal abortion. However, she claimed that she did not have access to doctors or counseling during the pandemic and therefore she did not know what week of pregnancy she was in.

The verdict caused horror among women’s rights activists and activists. “What’s the point of criminalizing and incarcerating this woman when all she needs is better access to health care and other supports?” said Harriet Wistrich, executive director of the Center for Women’s Justice. Still, the 44-year-old is traumatized and will miss her three children for more than a year.

Labor MP Creasy also criticized the ruling. “The average prison sentence for a violent crime in England is 18 months. A woman who had an abortion without following correct procedures was sentenced to 28 months in prison under a law from 1868,” Creasy wrote on Twitter and called for reform of the law. abortion law.

The BPAS said it was “shocked and horrified” by the ruling, which was based on an “archaic law”. As a result, the number of women and girls facing the “trauma of lengthy police investigations” based on an “outdated law” has increased. Reforms are needed so that “more women do not risk going to prison in a desperate situation,” demanded Clare Murphy, president of the BPAS.

The judge also referred to Parliament in the verdict. “The legal balance between a woman’s right to reproduce and the right of the unborn fetus is an emotional and often controversial issue,” said Edward Pepperall. “However, that is a matter for Parliament and not the courts.”

The Ministry of Health told the BBC there were no plans to reform abortion law in Britain. “Our current laws strike a balance between a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion and the rights of the fetus,” a ministry spokesperson said.