British police testing women for abortion drugs - Tortoise
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Forensic reports seen by Tortoise show police requesting tests for mifepristone and misoprostol

Forensic reports reveal that tpolice in the UK 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”.

Dr Allison Holmes, Lecturer in Law at the University of Kent told Tortoise she was not surprised to hear menstrual app data was being requested by UK police when investigating suspected illegal abortions, based on her research into the treatment of victims’ phones in sexual offence investigations.

The UK Home Office was approached but did not comment.

  • 0x815@feddit.deOPEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    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.

    As the article also says:

    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”.

    And the article examines a wide range of intrusive measures by police forces in the UK and other countries, violating fundamental human rights.