A British woman, Sarah Catt, 35, self-aborted her unborn child just one week before her baby’s due date. She was eventually charged and pleaded guilty to administering poison to procure the miscarriage after using a drug she purchased online to abort her baby.
Catt now faces jail for aborting her baby herself in the final week of pregnancy and police have still been unable to locate the body of the unborn child. Catt reportedly purchased a drug over the Internet and was charged with taking it with “intent to procure a miscarriage.” She pleaded guilty but would not cooperate with police on the location of where she disposed of the body of her baby.
Catt, who has two children ages 8 and 10, returns to Leeds Crown Court in September for sentencing. Section 58 of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act carries a maximum life prison sentence.
The London Daily Mail indicates Catt and her husband Stephen, 41, did not inform relatives of what happened and her family are reportedly shocked by the incident.
“Chief Inspector Kerrin Smith, of North Yorkshire Police, said outside court ‘many questions remain unanswered’ despite a long police investigation,” the newspaper reported. “Police found evidence Catt bought a drug via the Internet which is commonly used to induce abortions.”
“The evidence shows this to have happened in the final stages of pregnancy within the last week of the due date that this baby should have been born,” Smith said. “Throughout this investigation [Catt] has claimed that this pregnancy was terminated legitimately even though that would not be legally possible. A legal termination can only be carried out up to 24 weeks in normal circumstances unless there are dire medical requirements to go beyond this. There were none in this case.”
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The Independent newspaper has more on the case.
“Catt told police she had terminated the pregnancy legally, despite medical records in March 2010 showing her to be nearly 30 weeks pregnant – six weeks beyond the 24-week legal limit for a termination,” it said.
