Woman cleared of terminating her pregnancy illegally during 2020 lockdown

A woman has been cleared of illegally terminating a pregnancy after taking abortion pills during lockdown.

- Hannah Al-Othman

Nicola Packer took the pills at home in November 2020. She had been prescribed mifepristone and misoprostol after a remote consultation.

She later delivered a foetus, which Isleworth crown court heard was estimated to be about 26 weeks in gestation, which she brought with her to Chelsea and Westminster hospital. She was arrested in hospital and later charged with "unlawfully administering to herself a poison or other noxious thing" with the "intent to procure a miscarriage".

Packer had been prescribed the medication under emergency pandemic legislation, which was later made permanent, that allowed for pills to be dispatched by post after a remote consultation for pregnancies up to 10 weeks. The normal time limit for abortions in England and Wales is 23 weeks and six days, with no time limits in place if certain criteria are in place, such as a severe foetal anomaly or a risk to the mother's life.

The prosecution had alleged that Packer had known she was more than ten weeks pregnant when she took the pills that she received in the post. But she denied the charges and was found not guilty by a jury of nine women and three men, who returned a unanimous verdict after the two-week trial.