21-year-old Irish woman faces life in prison for taking abortion pills.

[Valigarmander]

Because the life of an embryo matters more than the life of a grown woman.

A 21-year-old woman from Northern Ireland, whose name is being withheld for legal reasons, has been charged with procuring and using the abortion drugs Mifepristone and Misoprostol â€" and could face life in prison for doing so.

She is accused of violating the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 by attempting an abortion with “poison” and procuring those “poisons.” An Amnesty International press release on the case illustrates how absurd the charges are:

    The woman faces two charges: the first involves unlawfully taking poisonous substances, namely the drugs Mifepristone and Misoprostol, to terminate the pregnancy. The second charge is supplying or procuring a poison, knowing that it was to be used to induce a miscarriage.

    The medicated abortion pills are internationally regarded as a safe and recommended option for terminating a pregnancy in the first trimester. The criminalisation of abortion means that women and girls take these pills without effective medical supervision and therefore potentially resulting in serious health complications.

Referring to findings from the High Court’s November judicial review of abortion laws in Northern Ireland, Amnesty International NI program director Patrick Corrigan notes:

    “By denying access to healthcare services, Northern Ireland is violating women and girls’ human rights, as has now been established in Belfast’s High Court.

    “Instead of sanctioning women and girls for seeking the healthcare they need, the Northern Ireland Executive must urgently reform its cruel and outdated abortion laws to bring them into line with at least the minimum international human rights standards.”

As we see all too often, though, “pro-life” laws tend to have very little regard for the well-being of the pregnant person. In this case, they could rob a young woman of a lifetime of freedom â€" or at least some chunk of it. All for the crime of making her own reproductive choices.

[Shiranu]

*Irish shame intensifies*

Seriously... out of all the European ancestry I could have... this is what I get?

Self-defecation aside this is just one more example that Europe isn't nearly as high and mighty as it likes to think itself. You still have your pockets of crazy... you just do a better job of not letting them be mainstream.

[Atheon]

Isn't Northern Ireland part of the UK? Shouldn't she be protected by UK law?

[Baruch]

Isn't Northern Ireland part of the UK? Shouldn't she be protected by UK law?

N Ireland is more like Puerto Rico.  Anyone outside of England, any Celtic areas are ... colonies.

[TomFoolery]

Women on Waves attempted to go there some years ago and jumped through too many hurdles to really help.  Mifepristone and Misoprostol are well-known abortifacients and a quick Google search of "how to do an abortion at home" will usually turn them up first. It shouldn't be hard for them to prove she probably took them to induce an abortion. The scary thing is when legislators attempt to make abortion illegal, they force people to do it at home.

Abortions in general very often look like a miscarriage, and particularly in the earliest stages are indistinguishable from one when induced medically as opposed to surgically. I think it was Ohio a few years back that attempted to prosecute a woman for having a miscarriage, saying she had performed an illegal abortion. Should pregnant women be too afraid to do anything other than sit on a couch for nine months for fear of prosecution? If a woman is a high risk pregnancy for whatever reason and needs to work to support herself but walking puts her at risk, is she a criminal?

Fucking conservatives.

[stromboli]

Once again religion proves to be on the side of the stupid. This is not only a religious issue but a civil rights issue. Saying that a religiously biased set of laws holds sway over the individual decision to not bear a child hearkens back to the middle ages. This and "personhood" laws are the cutting edge of far right stupidity. And another example of righteous conservative morons forcing women into untenable positions between control over their own bodies and the right of empowerment to live as they choose.

[Jannabear]

There should seriously be a protest, someone anger the anons into doing something about this bullshit.
I'd grab my mask and protest myself, but I live in the us.

[Baruch]

Women on Waves attempted to go there some years ago and jumped through too many hurdles to really help.  Mifepristone and Misoprostol are well-known abortifacients and a quick Google search of "how to do an abortion at home" will usually turn them up first. It shouldn't be hard for them to prove she probably took them to induce an abortion. The scary thing is when legislators attempt to make abortion illegal, they force people to do it at home.

Abortions in general very often look like a miscarriage, and particularly in the earliest stages are indistinguishable from one when induced medically as opposed to surgically. I think it was Ohio a few years back that attempted to prosecute a woman for having a miscarriage, saying she had performed an illegal abortion. Should pregnant women be too afraid to do anything other than sit on a couch for nine months for fear of prosecution? If a woman is a high risk pregnancy for whatever reason and needs to work to support herself but walking puts her at risk, is she a criminal?

Fucking conservatives.

It gets worse.  In press coverage in the US concerning similar laws ... basically if a woman doesn't do everything in her power to have a healthy baby ... including before the pregnancy is confirmed, she is at least an accessory to an assault on the fetus.  So no alcohol or tobacco ever, for any woman.  They have to be kept in petri dishes for their own protection.

[pato15]

Wouldn't it be great if humans weren't stupid as balls every once in a while? A guy can dream...