Abortion Pills: Under Whose Control?
Abortion Pills: Under Whose Control?
In Britain and in most other countries it is a crime for a woman to attempt to procure her own abortion. However, as we have seen, illegality does not deter large numbers of women from sourcing abortifacient drugs.
In the Cairns case, the girlfriend, Tegan Leach, was accused of procuring her own abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol. Like her boyfriend, she was found not guilty. It is important to note that because this couple was able to obtain quality products, these were deemed not noxious. If another case were brought in this jurisdiction in which counterfeit drugs or other non-standard treatments were used, then there could be a threat of a custodial sentence.
In the case of Jennie McCormack of Idaho, USA, she asked her sister in Mississippi to buy mifepristone and misoprostol over the Internet and send it to her. She took the drugs in the second trimester; when she put the expelled fetus in a box on her porch, her sister reported her to the police. She was arrested, but later released due to lack of evidence. Her lawyer secured a temporary court order barring enforcement of the criminal law. However, if she had been convicted, she would have been imprisoned for between 1 and 5 years.
Self-administration of Drugs By Women
In Britain and in most other countries it is a crime for a woman to attempt to procure her own abortion. However, as we have seen, illegality does not deter large numbers of women from sourcing abortifacient drugs.
In the Cairns case, the girlfriend, Tegan Leach, was accused of procuring her own abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol. Like her boyfriend, she was found not guilty. It is important to note that because this couple was able to obtain quality products, these were deemed not noxious. If another case were brought in this jurisdiction in which counterfeit drugs or other non-standard treatments were used, then there could be a threat of a custodial sentence.
In the case of Jennie McCormack of Idaho, USA, she asked her sister in Mississippi to buy mifepristone and misoprostol over the Internet and send it to her. She took the drugs in the second trimester; when she put the expelled fetus in a box on her porch, her sister reported her to the police. She was arrested, but later released due to lack of evidence. Her lawyer secured a temporary court order barring enforcement of the criminal law. However, if she had been convicted, she would have been imprisoned for between 1 and 5 years.
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