After 'Shocking' Police Abortion Guidance, Here's What Campaigners Want To Happen Next

Following the release of new police guidance detailing how to seize phones and search for medications used to terminate pregnancies in the homes of women after unexpected pregnancy loss, campaigners and doctors are urgently calling for abortion to be decriminalised.The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has branded the guidance on child death investigation, which comes from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and was updated earlier this year, as “truly shocking”.If someone is suspected of terminating a pregnancy outside of the legally permitted circumstances, the guidance suggests police could seize phones to examine internet search history, messages and health apps such as menstrual cycle and fertility trackers to “establish a woman’s knowledge and intention in relation to the pregnancy”.It also offers advice on searching for abortifacients (medications used to terminate pregnancies) as well as packaging, documentation and empty medication blister packs.Now, campaigners and doctors are calling for abortion to be decriminalised, with Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, urging people to write to their MPs to ask them to support it. Labour and Co-op MP Stella Creasy has also urged her followers to take action.‘Unexpected pregnancy loss is not something which is routinely investigated by police’The NPCC told HuffPost UK: “Unexpected pregnancy loss is not something which is routinely investigated by police as potential illegal abortion, and these are very rare.“We recognise how traumatic the experience of losing a child is, with many complexities involved, and any investigation of this nature will always be treated with the utmost sensitivity and compassion.”The council added an investigation would only be initiated “where there is credible information to suggest criminal activity” and this would often be as a result of concerns raised from medical professionals.“It is important to stress that due to the individuality of each case, there is no standardised policy to investigate illegal abortions and that police will always work closely with health partners, prioritising the welfare of everyone involved,” said the NPCC. But against a backdrop of reproductive rights being rolled back in the US, campaigners are concerned by the update to police guidance.More women are being charged for ending pregnanciesOver the past two years, six women have appeared in UK courts charged with ending their own pregnancy.Since the introduction of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (written before women could vote in the UK), only three other convictions of illegal abortion have been reported, the BMJ said.“Abortion providers have reported that in recent years they have received c.50requests for women’s medical records from the police in relation to suspected abortion offence,” a cross-party amendment briefing on the topic said.Abortion is technically still a criminal offence in England and Wales.It is only “de facto” legal until 24 weeks because of the Abortion Act 1967, which allows people to circumvent the law by meeting certain conditions (getting the sign-off from two doctors, taking place in a hospital or premises approved by the Secretary of State for Health, and meeting one of the seven criteria that allows abortion). According to the briefing, that means that technically “any woman who undergoes an abortion without the permission of two doctors – for example by ordering pills online – can be prosecuted and receive a life sentence as her abortion takes place outside of the provisions of the Act”.This is not usually enforced, but the law seems to be getting stricter.Nicola Packer was only cleared of illegally terminating a pregnancy after taking abortion pills during Covid this month, for instance. She had used a registered provider and was covered by emergency lockdown rule changes that allowed people to order abortion pills online up to 10 weeks into their pregnancy (this stayed in place after the lockdown).An amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill has been proposedEarlier this month, The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists “welcomed” an amendment which is currently making its way through parliament and calls for abortion to be decriminalised. At the time, Dr Ranee Thakar, president of RCOG, said: “Abortion that happens outside of the current law generally involves very vulnerable women – including those facing domestic abuse, mental health challenges or barriers to accessing NHS care.“Yet alarmingly, prosecutions of women have been increasing in recent years.” Stating that abortion is a form of healthcare, Dr Thakar added: “Parliamentarians now have an unmissable opportunity to decriminalise abortion, to ensure women can access abortion safely, confidentially and free from the threat of investigation and prosecution.“We urge MPs to support this amendment to ensure that women and girls in England and Wales will have the same protections as their counterparts in countries such as Northern Ireland, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.”The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has also been campaigning for abortion law reform. Spokesperson Katie Saxon said the recent police guidance change “is the clearest sign yet that women cannot rely on the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, or the courts to protect them”.She added: “The only way to stop this is to remove women from the criminal law on abortion.”Joeli Brearley, campaigner and founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, has now urged people to write to their MPs to ask them to support the amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill. “This is not the time for caution,” she wrote on social media. “We need to go hard or go home. Let’s make sure the future of reproductive rights in this country is secure and that no woman who experiences pregnancy loss is ever investigated as a potential criminal.”On Sunday, Stella Creasy took to Instagram to “beg” her followers to not “ignore the warning signs that abortion access is under threat on our shores”.“For the sake of the 250,000 women who have one every year here ask your MP to sign our cross party amendment and vote for it,” she said. “We only have a few weeks to win this vital fight for our freedoms ... The stakes could not be higher but with your help and all our voices we can do this.”Related...Abortion Law Could Radically Change As MPs Propose Decriminalising Abortion Up To 24 WeeksLesbians Have Always Stood With Trans Women – Our Safe Spaces Should TooFormer Minister Calls Out 'Sexist' No.10 Briefings Against Women In Starmer's Cabinet

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