06/08/2023
Agnes Sampson writes for the Trotskyist monthly newspaper Workers Power on Carla Foster, who was imprisoned for twenty eight months in prison for giving herself a late abortion. Agnes notes "Most people wrongly assumed that abortion had been decriminalised, but Justice Edward Pepperall dug up a law from 1861 to find her guilty. Foster pleaded not guilty to this charge and the Judge later said that, had she pleaded guilty, he would not have sentenced her to a prison term. Carla has three children, one with learning disabilities, and they too are being cruelly punished by this misogynistic Victorian legislation. ‘Growing demand for sexual health consultations coupled with cuts in funding has left services in England at ‘breaking point’ . . . the total number of sexual health consultations in 2021 stood at 4,002,827 — up by 16 percent from 2020 and by 36 percent since 2013. At the same time cuts in funding have led to a 17 percent reduction in spending on sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, contraception, and treatment over the past seven years.’ Judge Pepperall, however, showed his utter disdain for the health profession when he further criticised medical experts for writing to him urging him not to imprison Foster, but to treat her with compassion and understanding. These included the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, the president of the Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, the president of the Faculty of Public Health, and the chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Abortion Taskforce".
https://workerspower.uk/abortion-laws-still-criminalising-womens-healthc...
