Woman charged with taking pills to abort child in UAE

Prosecutors charged her with abortion with the help of her husband.

A Syrian woman has been charged by the Sharjah Misdemeanor Court for allegedly taking misoprostol pills to abort her over 6-week-old foetus. The 24-year-old woman pleaded not guilty to all the charges during the court hearing.
Her husband told the presiding judge that last Ramadan, his wife suffered excessive bleeding. He took her to Al Qasimi Hospital and she was admitted to the emergency section.
The man said he was not aware what was happening as he was asked to wait while his wife taken to another room. After three hours, he was told that his wife's pregnancy had been terminated and she was to be treated for two days, the husband told the court. He was shocked when his wife was accused by the hospital of attempting to abort the baby.
The man said that he and his wife got married in October 2017 and when she got pregnant after a month, they went to a private clinic in Dubai and started follow-ups. He said as this was his wife's first pregnancy, they were happy and excited. The man added that after a few days, his wife had an infection and the doctor at the clinic prescribed her medicine. A day later, after taking the tablet, she suffered bleeding. The husband said his wife did not take any other medicine and submitted a copy of the doctor's prescription to the court.
During the first hearing, the court accused her of aborting her child and deliberately taking 15 misoprostol pills which she bought from a website that led to the bleeding. Prosecutors charged her with abortion with the help of her husband.
According to an initial medical report issued by the hospital, the woman consumed the pills to deliberately abort the foetus.
The couple, however, had denied the medical report.

• Sharjah