A UK court sentenced a woman Monday to more than 2 years prison after she obtained medication to induce an abortion after the legal limit of 24 weeks of pregnancy. The sentence received immediate condemnation from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the reproductive health space, with the provider of the medication used to induce the abortion in the case describing the governing law as “archaic.”

The Crown Court at Stoke on Trent heard the case of Clara Foster, who received medication following a remote consultation with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS). Foster received abortion medication via the “pills by post” scheme. First introduced in 2020, the scheme allows people to terminate pregnancies, up to ten weeks, at home through the use of medicine. After 10 weeks, the procedure is carried out in a clinic.

UK prosecutors argued that Foster knowingly misled the BPAS because she represented that she was seven weeks pregnant when she was actually believed to have been 28 weeks pregnant. Doctors later concluded that, at the time Foster sought the abortion, the fetus between 32 and 34 weeks gestation.

Under sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, any woman in England and Wales who ends a pregnancy at any gestation, without the approval of two doctors, faces up to life imprisonment. The law was temporarily amended during the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. Under another law, the Abortion Act 1967, abortion is generally legal up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

A joint letter signed by multiple medical bodies—including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists—urged the court to consider a non-custodial sentence for Foster, following the guilty finding. However, Justice Edward Pepperall, who heard the case, dismissed the letter as “inappropriate.”

In his sentencing remarks, Pepperall did recognize that the decision to seek an abortion is “intensely…paintful,” requiring “very anxious and careful consideration” of the case on its own facts. Pepperall also accepted the “very deep and genuine remorse” felt by Foster. Nevertheless, he sentenced Foster to serve 28 months in prison.

There has been widespread outrage since Foster’s sentencing. BPAS Chief Executive Clare Murphy described the sentencing as based on “archaic abortion law.” Murphy also called upon Parliament to extend protection to women to “remove the threat of criminal sanction for any woman who attempt[s] to end their own pregnancy.” The Women’s Equality Party also described the sentencing as “a damning indictment of abortion law in England which criminalises women for simply seeking healthcare.”

There has been cross-party support for changing the law in recent UK politics. Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson previously tried to repeal the act, saying it has a “chilling” effect on medical professionals. On the other side of the aisle, Conservative MP Caroline Noakes called the legislation “very out of date” and recommended it be overhauled.

However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said that the law, as it stands, “balance[s] a women’s right to access safe and legal abortions with the rights of an unborn child.” The spokesperson also indicated that there was currently no plans to change the current approach.

In response to Foster’s sentencing, several women’s rights and reproductive freedom NGOs have organized a protest outside of the Royal Courts of Justice in London for Saturday, June 17.