Data relating to abortion/precuring a miscarriage beyond legal limit offences from 2012 to present date
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.033566
I note you seek access to the following information:
Thank you for your reply and for your note that prosecution data is held by the CPS, as well as the advice on how I might redefine my “request to make it more likely that information could be located within the appropriate cost limit.”
I would like to take your advice and omit some questions I originally asked.
If possible I would still greatly appreciate information on the method used, which other police forces have disclosed; (this FOI requested similar information and the response outlined outcomes and included anonymised crime free text).
Based on this, please can you advise whether the following refined request will fall within the appropriate cost limit:
Please can you provide information on the number of reported offences, arrests and charges with regard to abortions performed beyond the legal limit, and any similar cases related to forcing or coercing miscarriages/abortions, recorded under offense codes 4.3, 14 and 15 (the reported crimes listed on the “Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK” website, specifically this table: Police recorded crime open data Police Force Area tables from year ending March 2013 onwards, uses these offense codes), broken down by suspect (e.g. the pregnant woman and/or third party(ies) such as a boyfriend, random attacker etc.) for 2012-present.
I would request the information be formatted in a spreadsheet with the various columns denoting the information sought and/or via any sufficiently redacted reports.
If possible and it would not add an inordinate amount of time to the process (so as not to exceed the cost limit), it would be very helpful to know whether pills used in any offences were obtained legally over the phone or in person, though if that is not possible I understand. I would however note this information is relevant to public debate on the laws pertaining to these offences. Indeed, I believe that there are very reasonable and legitimate public interests involved in disclosing the (reduced amount of) information requested and felt it may be helpful to outline that here; specifically, there is an ongoing debate in the public sphere and Parliament on the Offences Against the Person Act (OAPA) and the ILPA - the legislation many of these charges are brought under [the ICO, see here, outlines legitimate interests as including broader societal benefits]. Indeed, the data will help the public determine whether or how the OAPA, ILPA and related laws are beneficial (protecting women from forced or coerced abortions from third parties) or harmful (being used to prosecute pregnant women), which will assist in communications with their MP on this issue.”
**PREVIOUS REQUEST**
“I am requesting information on cases referred to in the media recently of abortions performed beyond the legal limit, and any similar cases. I would request the information be formatted in a spreadsheet with the various columns denoting the information sought and/or via any sufficiently redacted reports.
Specifically, I am requesting information on any reports of illegal abortion, coercing/forcing a miscarriage, or similar, and the method of doing so. I request that the number of incidents/reports for the last decade (2012-now) be broken down by suspect (e.g. the pregnant woman and/or third party(ies) such as a boyfriend, random attacker etc.), and alongside this, request the following be specifically denoted: the method of miscarriage/abortion (e.g. instruments, physical assault, women deliberately injuring themselves, etc. If pills were used, please denote the provider they were obtained from and if obtained after a telemedicine consultation or in person consultation); gestation of the pregnancy, and the final outcome of each report (e.g. if applicable please disclose whether there was a guilty plea, prosecution / trial, conviction, and any sentence, or if it was determined it was a miscarriage and a woman was wrongfully investigated, etc.).
Also broken down by suspect please denote the total number of arrests and total number of charges and under what legislation each arrest occurred / charge was brought (most likely HOC 14: Procuring illegal abortion; HOC 15: Concealing infant death close to birth; HOC 4/03 Child destruction, but could be under other legislation related to battery, grievous bodily harm, poisoning, etc.).”
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 30(1)(a)(i) – Criminal Investigations
Section 40(2)(3A)(a) – Personal Information
Reason for decision
Section 30(1)(a)(i) – Investigations and proceedings conducted by the public authority - Disclosing information to the level of granularity you are seeking would identify specific investigations. Disclosing this level of detail and specific information collected for that purpose would undermine the investigative process, diminishing the MPS’ ability to accurately and successfully determine if an individual/s is guilty of a criminal offence.
Information must not be revealed which would only be known to the investigating team or the offender.
The outcome for some of the offences have yet to be determined therefore, to release any further information would compromise our law enforcement investigative functions and therefore hinder an individual’s right to a fair trial cannot be in the public interest.
There is a public interest in the transparency of the investigation of crime and providing assurance that the MPS is appropriately and effectively dealing with criminal activity. However, there is also a strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity of police investigations, by not releasing information that could hinder that investigation and prejudice the outcome of any legal proceedings.
Section 40(2)(3A)(a) – Personal Information - Under Section 40(2) and (3) of the Act, Public Authorities are able to withhold information where its release would identify any living individual and breach the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). I have applied this exemption in that the identity of individuals that may be realised through providing the information broken down in the format you have requested would constitute personal data which, if released, would be in breach of the rights provided by the DPA.
There are six data protection principles that are set out in Section 34 of the Data
Protection Act 2018. The first principle requires that the disclosure of the requested personal data must be lawful and fair. Under the Act, the disclosure of personal data is considered to be lawful if:
a. There is a legitimate interest in the disclosure of that personal data.
b. The disclosure of the personal data is necessary to meet that legitimate interest.
c. The disclosure would not cause unwarranted harm to the data subject.
It should be noted that any disclosure is a release to the world at large, and this is a particularly sensitive subject matter. Despite the long time period you are seeking this information over, extremely low numbers of offences have been located, and whilst disclosure may not directly identify an individual involved by name, the mosaic effect of what may already be in the public domain as well as local knowledge combined with a release would make identification extremely likely. The release of this information would not only be unlawful, but would also be unfair and would contravene the first principle of the DPA 2018, as the persons concerned would have no reasonable expectation that the MPS would make this information publicly available.
Although I understand there is an interest in the information you are seeking I believe this interest has been satisfied by the release of the disclosed information. I do not believe that providing any more details, when there is a reasonable risk that the additional information would identify individuals involved, and prejudice investigations, would add to any wider public debate that may be ongoing.
In reaching my decision, I have, in each case, given due regard to the condition at Article 6(1)(a) and 6(1)(e) of the GDPR. Condition one of the GDPR requires that consideration is given to whether consent for disclosure has been given whilst Condition six requires that consideration is given to performance of a public task in the public interest.
Having considered both conditions, I have established that no consent is present or would likely be received to release this information.
The provision to refuse access to information under Section 40(2)(a)(b) and (3A)(a) of the Act is both absolute and class based. When this exemption is claimed, it is accepted that harm would result from disclosure. There is accordingly no requirement to demonstrate what that harm may be in refusing access to information.
You have asked us to disclose the number of reported offences recorded under offence codes: 004/03, 014/03, and 015/00, for the years 2012 to the date of your request broken down by suspect (pregnant mother or third party), method used, arrests, and the final outcome of each case (including charges). You have then further asked us to disclose, if possible, “whether pills used in any offences were obtained legally over the phone or in person”.
Please be advised that I have made the decision to disclose some of the data you are seeking. However, due to extremely low numbers I am unable to provide the breakdown you are seeking. If we were to disclose the data broken down by year, suspect, method, outcome, and provide investigative information in the case of any offences where pills were used, this would identify specific offences and investigations, and by deduction, this would identify individuals concerned. Any such disclosure would release extremely sensitive personal and criminal information in relation to individuals concerned into the public domain, and would prejudice ongoing investigations. For the above reasons the exemptions provided by Section 40(2)(3), and Section 30(1)(a)(i) of the Act, have been applied to refuse full disclosure of the information you are seeking. I have instead made the decision to disclose the total number of offences for 2012 to 2023 (up to 27/09/2023) broken down by offence code.
Disclosure
Please see the table below for data relevant to your request:
| Offence | Total |
| 004/03 (Violence Against the Person - with injury) | 22 |
| 014/01 (Violence Against the Person - without injury) | 9 |
| 015/00 (Miscellaneous Crimes Against Society - concealing an infant death close to birth) | 4 |
Advice and Assistance
Statistics in relation to procuring illegal abortion in England and Wales, and national crime and outcomes data, are in the public domain. To assist please find links to relevant data below:
Number of procuring illegal abortio offences in Englad and Wales from 2002/03 to 2022/23
Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)