Bulletin: Purvi Patel; Indiana; Women's groups (Including some in UK) protest twenty-year sentence handed to Purvi Patel for death of foetus; "The British Pregnancy Advisory Service described Patel’s case as, “tragic” and warned it could set a dangerous precedent for other pregnant women. A spokesperson told The Independent: “Purvi Patel is sadly the latest victim of the creeping criminalisation of pregnant women’s behaviour in America. “These ‘feticide’ laws are being used to punish the pregnant women they purport to protect, and will only discourage those who need medical care from seeking help, putting women and their babies at greater risk. “What we are seeing in the US should serve as a warning to those who support reproductive rights in the UK. Ending a pregnancy remains a criminal offence in British law that carries a potential twelve-year prison term if the grounds of the 1967 Abortion Act are not met. “This means that a woman who buys abortion pills online could be incarcerated." The Independent;

"Patel is the second woman to be charged with feticide in the US, but the first to receive a prison sentence. She was prosecuted under state laws that are otherwise intended at targeting illegal abortion providers and prosecuting crimes against pregnant women, Al Jazeera reports. Women’s rights activists have condemned her conviction and the subsequent sentence.  They say the law is being used to prosecute women who miscarry, have stillbirths or try to terminate their own pregnancies. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service described Patel’s case as “tragic” and warned it could set a dangerous precedent for other pregnant women.  A spokesperson told The Independent: “Purvi Patel is sadly the latest victim of the creeping criminalisation of pregnant women’s behaviour in America. “These ‘feticide’ laws are being used to punish the pregnant women they purport to protect, and will only discourage those who need medical care from seeking help, putting women and their babies at greater risk. “What we are seeing in the US should serve as a warning to those who support reproductive rights in the UK. Ending a pregnancy remains a criminal offence in British law that carries a potential twelve-year prison term if the grounds of the 1967 Abortion Act are not met. “This means that a woman who buys abortion pills online could be incarcerated. Women need access to high quality reproductive healthcare services and support. In the 21st century, their personal decisions about whether to continue or end a pregnancy do not belong in the criminal law.” Lynn Paltrow. the executive director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW), said she was deelpy disappointed by the outcome. "While no woman should face criminal charges for having an abortion or experiencing a pregnancy loss, the cruel length of this sentence confirms that feticide and other measures promoted by anti-abortion organizations are intended to punish not protect women.""

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/twenty-year-sentence-handed-to-purvi-patel-for-death-of-foetus-condemned-by-women-s-groups-10148831.html