UK woman pleads not guilty to unlawful self-abortion on baby old enough to survive

A United Kingdom woman who is accused of illegally carrying out her own abortion has denied the charges that she used a drug with the intent to kill her viable preborn child during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown of 2020.

Bethany Cox, now 22, appeared at Teesside Crown Court in Middlesbrough on Tuesday where she pleaded not guilty. She faces charges of taking a drug with the intent to “destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive” on July 6, 2020, and of administering a poison with the intent to procure a miscarriage between July 2 and July 7, 2020.

The first UK COVID lockdown was eased on July 4 with the government allowing at-home abortion pill use for the first time, but only within the allowable 10-week time frame after a consultation with the abortionist. Both charges Cox is facing carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The first charge states: “On 06/07/2020 at Stockton, with intent to destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive, by a wilful act, namely administering drugs to procure abortion, contrary to section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, caused the child to die before it had an existence independent of its mother.”

The second charge states: “Between 02/07/2020 and 07/07/2020 at Stockton, being a woman with child, unlawfully administered to yourself a poison or other noxious thing, with intent to procure your own miscarriage.”

Cox is currently on unconditional bail by the judge, Paul Watson KC. Her seven-day trial is scheduled to begin on January 15, 2024.

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Section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 makes it a criminal offense to procure your own abortion unlawfully. Abortion is a crime in England and Wales unless it meets specific criteria. The criteria include that the abortion must be committed by a medical professional. Any abortion after 10 weeks must be committed in a hospital.

Cox allegedly took the abortion pill drug misoprostol, which is commonly used as the second of the two-drug abortion pill regimen. It causes contractions that expel the preborn child. It is unclear exactly how old her baby was at the time of the alleged abortion, but preborn children are considered viable in the UK at about 24 weeks. However, children born as prematurely as 21 weeks have survived with medical assistance.

Cox is believed to be the fourth woman in eight months to face charges of illegally aborting a baby. Carla Foster was sentenced to 28 months in prison for her abortion at 28 weeks (six to seven months) pregnant in May 2020, but following public outcry she was given a 14-month suspended sentence and set free.