Editing Abortion in the United Kingdom (section)

== Abortions in prisons ==
The HMPPS policy (covering England and Wales) for women who wish to get an abortion while incarcerated includes that prisons are required to ensure timely access to termination support services for women requiring them. This policy also states that following a termination women must be allowed to rest, or in the case of a medical termination, pass the pregnancy in privacy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-19 |title=Pregnancy, MBUs and maternal separation in women's prisons Policy Framework |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pregnancy-mbus-and-maternal-separation-in-womens-prisons-policy-framework |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref>

In practice, it is difficult to determine how easily women are able to access abortion or what support women are given in relation to decisions to terminate a pregnancy.<ref>Jenny North. Getting it Right?: Services for pregnant women, new mothers, and babies in prison. The Maternity Alliance 2013</ref> There is little research in this area.

A Freedom of Information Request to the Department of Health and Social Care (FOI-11107442) in 2017 asking how many women who reside in prison obtained abortions over the period 2006 to 2016 showed that, on average, 30 women access abortion while in prison each year.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dabrowski, Milne |date=August 13, 2022 |title=IMPRISONED WOMEN AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: A Site of Reproductive Rights Violation? |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895822111792 |journal=Criminology and Criminal Justice |volume=23 |issue=5|doi=10.1177/1748895822111792 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref>