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UK state overreach, misuse of abortion laws against patients

Reminder that abortion in the UK is actually illegal – we just disapply the legislation in most cases.

So, when The State can use this legislation against citizens, it can most certainly do so.

British police testing women for abortion drugs
tortoisemedia.com/2023/10/30/b…


British police testing women for abortion drugs - Tortoise

Forensic reports seen by Tortoise show police requesting tests for mifepristone and misoprostol
Tortoise
in reply to :baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone

:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
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The police are breaking into patients’ phones and collecting data from their menstrual apps, health apps, and text messages to make sure that they didn’t break anti-abortion legislation. This is an overreach of state power, by a huge margin.

nAble Media (Jesse) reshared this.

in reply to :baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone

:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
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For anyone who is a little confused. Abortion in the UK is illegal unless it is before 24 weeks, two doctors approve the abortion request, and the reason given is either for the health of the patient, child, or the patient will experience mental distress.

Most patients obviously pick “mental distress”, and the two doctors will usually sign it off without any notice.

It means the NHS can provide abortions, but it means that the entire abortion system in the UK is essentially based on a “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” legalism, instead of actually being legal in the country.

reshared this

in reply to :baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone

:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
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It also means you have to find two doctors who are willing to participate in this legalistic charade, which can be tough if you don’t live in a city, live in a conservative part of the country, or you just don’t have enough doctors around you.

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in reply to :baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone

M. The Crystalline Entity
M. The Crystalline Entity
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This is a hot take for fedi, but I honestly think an iPhone is the best off the shelf defense against this kind of health data shit.

The Health app is one of the most comprehensive of its kind, and is one single place to defend as opposed to many apps for different functions, with different privacy policies.

You get prompted a single time whether you want to share your health data with Apple. Decline it and your data stays on-device. I’ve never been nagged again after the single request to upload data.

There are some ways that Apple is shit with privacy, but there are other ways they very much aren’t.

in reply to M. The Crystalline Entity

:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
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@maddiefuzz Does that defend against the police trying to access a mobile phone though? In the UK, if the police want your phone, you are legally obligated to hand it over – including the password. It’s a legit crime to not give the cops your electronic devices.
@M. The Crystalline Entity
in reply to :baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone

M. The Crystalline Entity
M. The Crystalline Entity
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If that's the law in the UK, I don't think much would protect you other than keeping it on a device that the police don't confiscate.

In the US, you can be compelled to unlock a phone biometrically, but AFAIK you can't be forced to disclose a password.

It's gone back and forth a few times here, about whether it's protected by the 5th amendment.

in reply to M. The Crystalline Entity

:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
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@maddiefuzz Even though we have a right to not self-incriminate, this does not apply to electronic devices, so it’s like… If a cop has a warrant, they can take all your electronic devices for as long as they want, clone the hard drive, whatever. If you don’t hand that over, then it’s two years in prison even if you actually didn’t commit a crime.
@M. The Crystalline Entity
in reply to tungsten lewdum

:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
:baba_yaseen: -> yassie_j@labyrinth.zone
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@lewdum Yes! It’s all a song and dance. You have to say the right words, have the right doctors, and fill the right forms in, and the law is dis-applied. There is no “right to abortion”, it’s just behind a legalistic process instead of a medical one.
@tungsten lewdum
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