EXCLUSIVE Family of mother-of-three, 44, jailed for illegally procuring her own abortion outside the legal limit are ‘broken and struggling to come to terms with what’s happened’
- Animal sanctuary worker Carla Foster, 44, was jailed for 28 months
- Her family told friends the verdict has left them ‘broken and struggling’
The family of a woman jailed for illegally procuring her own abortion outside the legal limit have revealed that they are ‘angry and embarrassed’ by the controversial case.
Carla Foster, 44, who lived in the Staffordshire village of Barlaston, lied about how advanced her pregnancy was in order to obtain abortion-causing drugs.
She was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant when she received the medication from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service under the ‘pills by post’ scheme.
Since being imprisoned for 28 months, Foster’s family have barely come out of their homes and have told friends that the verdict has left them devastated.
The close-knit family, made up of Carla’s two sisters and elderly father live barely ten minutes walk from each other in Stoke-on-Trent while Carla lives just a short drive away.
Mother-of-three Carla Foster (pictured) was jailed for 28 months
MPs have called for Britain’s ‘out-of-date’ abortion legislation to be reviewed
READ MORE: ‘Women should not be criminalised for a medical procedure’: MPs are told to overhaul ‘terrifying’ Victorian law used to jail mother-of-three who ended her pregnancy in lockdown – but pro-life groups demand an end to ‘DIY pills-by-post abortions’
A family friend told MailOnline: ‘The family are broken and struggling to come to terms with what’s happened. They need some time together to process it all and can’t speak about it at the moment.
‘On one hand they are very angry that Carla has been sent to prison because whatever wrong she might have done, she didn’t deserve that.
‘She’s hardly a dangerous criminal, is she? And on the other hand, they feel very embarrassed because of the details that have come out about her personal life.’
The friend added: ‘It’s not the sort of thing any father wants to see being published in the newspapers about his daughter.
‘Carla’s dad and the rest of the family have had a terrible year. Last year their mum died and now this has happened.
‘It’s a very painful and devastating time for the family so they just want to have their privacy and be left alone.’
During Foster’s trial, the court heard that she had been having sex with two men and did not know which was the father when she became pregnant.
The mother – who has three sons including one with special needs – obtained abortion pills from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, via its ‘pills by post’ scheme.
The scheme, which was introduced during Covid-19, allows medication to be supplied following a telephone consultation, for pregnancies in the first ten weeks.
Foster, who worked at an animal sanctuary near her home near Stoke-on-Trent, ordered the pills after moving in with her estranged partner, when the Covid-19 lockdown first began.
Foster pleaded guilty to a charge under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861
Foster posted this message on Facebook at 7pm on Sunday, the day before her sentencing
READ MORE: How mother-of-three charity worker, 44, ended up in prison for unlawfully aborting her unborn baby when lockdown forced her to move back with her ex-partner who was not the father – in case that has divided the nation
Sentencing Foster to 28 months in jail, judge Mr Justice Pepperall said she was ‘plagued by nightmares and flashbacks to seeing your dead child’s face’.
Hours before sentencing, Foster posted a text image on Facebook, with the words: ‘No one has the right to judge you because no one knows what you’ve been through. They may have heard stories, but they didn’t feel what you felt.’
She was initially charged with the crime of ‘child destruction,’ to which she pleaded not guilty, before pleading guilty to an alternative charge.
Prior to sentencing, healthcare leaders called for a non-custodial sentence to be imposed on Foster, in a letter to the court.
The letter from the leaders of the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, said a custodial sentence could deter women using remote abortion services.
MPs later slammed the two years and four month sentence given to Foster by judge Mr Justice Pepperall, as they called for the ‘out-of-date’ legislation used to jail her to be reviewed.
Caroline Nokes, chair of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee, told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight programme: ‘This is not something that has been debated in any great detail for many years now.
‘And cases like this, although tragic and fortunately very rare, do throw into stark relief that we are reliant on legislation that is very, very out of date. I think that makes a case for Parliament to start looking at this issue in detail.’
Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it ‘is not in the public interest to see a mother with three children now in prison for 28 months.’
‘Society has moved on, healthcare has moved on, and I think Parliament has a role now to look at reforming our abortion laws.’
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