<
https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2023/10/30/british-police-testing-women-for-abortion-drugs/>
"British police are testing women for abortion drugs and requesting data from
menstrual tracking apps after unexplained pregnancy losses.
Tortoise has seen forensic reports in which police have requested a mass
spectrometry test, which can detect the presence of the abortion drugs
mifepristone and misoprostol in the urine, blood and placenta of women under
investigation.
Other reports include requests for “data related to menstruation tracking
applications” as part of the police’s investigations.
It’s understood these requests have been taking place for at least the past
three years. Dr Jonathan Lord, co-chair of the British Society of Abortion Care
Providers and an NHS consultant gynaecologist, called searching women’s phones
for menstrual data “chilling and deeply intrusive”.
“We already know that police routinely remove phones and computers from women
suspected of having an [illegal] abortion and it’s even happening following
miscarriage and pregnancy loss,” Lord said. “This is damaging enough as it
leaves women frightened and isolated immediately after suffering a substantial
trauma.”
Lord told
Tortoise he was aware of cases of blood tests being taken with the
woman’s consent by NHS staff at the request of police, including, he said,
“when women knew they were innocent after suffering an unexpected premature
delivery”.
Even when the test finds no trace of abortion medication women can continue to
remain under suspicion “as a negative test does not exclude earlier use of
drugs”, he said. In that event, he argued, “the only motivation for testing is
entrapment”.
Although abortion was legalised in England and Wales in 1967, the procedure is
still criminal in specific circumstances.
Under Section 58 of the
Offence Against the Person Act 1861, which carries a
maximum life sentence, it is illegal for a woman to administer “poison”
(abortion pills) with the intent to cause her own miscarriage after the 24-week
legal limit.
Last month, the fifth woman this year appeared in an English court charged
under Section 58, compared with only three previous prosecutions in the past
160 years."
Via Diane A.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
