Head of Public Policy Tim Dieppe comments on the recent story of a man who assaulted a pregnant woman and gave her abortion pills to cause a miscarriage
Jailed for using abortion pills to cause a miscarriage
Last week a 40-year-old man was jailed for 12 years for sexually assaulting a pregnant woman and giving her abortion pills to cause a miscarriage.
Stuart Worby was found guilty on one count of sexual assault and of administering a poison to procure a miscarriage. The victim was around 15 weeks pregnant at the time.
Abortion pills obtained over the phone by deception
Worby asked his friend, Nueza Cepeda, to make a telephone call to The Gynae Centre posing as a woman who wanted an abortion. Cepeda made the call claiming she was pregnant, already had a family, and wanted to terminate the foetus. The pills were delivered to Cepeda and she gave them to Worby. Cepeda, 39, was sentenced to 22 months in prison suspended to two years, for supplying or procuring an instrument to be used with the intent to procure a miscarriage.
Pills administered by deception
The victim wanted to keep her baby. The first pill, mifepristone, was crushed and given to her in a glass of orange juice when she was blindfolded. The second pill was inserted into the victim after using deception to engage in sexual activity with her.
The victim immediately had to go to the bathroom to be sick and had diarrhoea and began bleeding. She went to hospital and after some hours of pain and further blood loss she suffered a miscarriage and had to have surgery.
The victim spoke of betrayal and pain and the strong possibility that he had stolen the one chance she had to be a mother. She has subsequently been unable to conceive.
DI Duncan Woodhams from Norfolk Police praised the victim for her bravery and said: “It’s been one of the most horrendous crimes I’ve ever investigated, and I hope I never have to do it again.”
DIY abortion made this possible
Pills-by-post abortions, also called ‘DIY abortions’ became legal during the covid pandemic, initially as a temporary measure. Parliament voted to make this permanent in March 2022. Prior to this an in-person appointment was required to check the gestation and any medical risks involved. Taking the pills after 10 weeks gestation is widely recognised to be high risk and is currently illegal.
Stuart Worby was only able to commit his crime because his friend was able to pose as a pregnant woman on a telephone call and request abortion pills. If DIY abortion was not allowed, he would not have been able to commit his crime.
Christian Concern challenged DIY abortions and warned of the dangers
When DIY abortion was originally introduced in March 2020, Christian Concern brought a legal case seeking judicial review to challenge the decision. The judicial review argued that then Health Secretary Matt Hancock had now power under the 1967 Abortion Act to authorise home abortions. Only Parliament could change the law which required abortions to only take place in NHS hospitals or approved clinics.
We warned at the time of the risk of impersonation and that telemedicine abortions were ‘wide open to abuse’.
Christian Concern also commissioned a ‘mystery client survey’ to see if BPAS and Marie Stopes UK had adequate measures to stop their home abortion services being abused.
In every case, abortion pills were sent out despite fake details being provided. Case studies showed how this allows particularly dangerous abortions to take place after 10 weeks’ gestation and how it is open to coercive abuse.
Last year, independent health consultant Kevin Duffy calculated that at least 39,000 women have been treated at NHS hospitals for complications arising from failed or incomplete DIY abortions at home.
Not the first case of abuse
Last year, Carla Foster, 45, was convicted of illegally procuring her own abortion when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant. She obtained the abortion pills by making a telephone call and claiming that she was only seven weeks pregnant. Abortion is illegal after 24 weeks, and dangerous to procure by pills after 10 weeks. This demonstrated how easy it is to obtain these pills by deception for nefarious purposes.
MPs tried to ban DIY abortions
Earlier this year, 52 MPs tabled an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to end DIY abortions and require an in-person consultation. More than 800 medical professionals wrote to MPs urging them to support the amendment because of the risks of not having an in-person appointment. Polling found that 71% of women supported a return to in-person appointments with only 9% in favour of the status quo.
Other amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill sought to decimalise abortion altogether, even up to birth. The calling of the General Election meant that the Criminal Justice Bill did not progress, and these amendments came to nothing.
No safeguards
The problem with DIY abortion is that there are no safeguards. Women can obtain these pills on demand whether they are pregnant or not and can deceive the clinic about their gestational age. We warned about this back in 2020 when DIY abortion was first introduced. It gives us no pleasure to see our warnings come to pass. This disturbing crime against a pregnant woman would not be possible if an in-person appointment was required. DIY abortions are dangerous. 1 in 17 women who take these tablets end up in hospital. There is no way poisonous tablets like these should be available over the phone. Parliament should legislate to ban DIY abortions as soon as possible to protect other women from any further crimes of this nature.
