Birthrights Chief Executives Shanthi Gunesekera and Janaki Mahadevan said:
“This shocking case has shown the need to introduce swift legal changes to prevent anything like this from happening again.
Birthrights stand with the British Pregnancy and Advisory Service (BPAS) and more than 30 other organisations including the Royal College of Midwives to call for the reform of the Abortion Act 1967 to prevent any more women and birthing people from facing prosecution for seeking to end their own pregnancies.
We are united in our belief that no one should be forced to continue their pregnancy against their will and that there should be no chance of imprisonment if they choose to do so.
Pregnant women and birthing people have the right to bodily autonomy during pregnancy and birth. This should be extended to fully cover abortion and more needs to be done to reform and clarify British law to ensure this is the case.”
Shanthi Gunesekera and Janaki Mahadevan, Chief Executives, Birthrights.