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135:, the law held that no woman could be granted a second reprieve from the original sentence on the ground of subsequent pregnancy, even if the foetus had quickened. In the event that a prisoner became pregnant, her
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child (that is, a foetus sufficiently developed to render its movement detectable), the convict was granted a reprieve of sentence until the next hanging time after her delivery.
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includes a scene where the character Filch picks up income working as a "child getter ... helping the ladies to a pregnancy against their being called down to sentence".
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The plea did not constitute a defence and could only be made after a verdict of guilty was delivered. Upon making the plea, the convict was entitled to be examined by a
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containing the form and method of the proceedings at the
Assizes and General Gaol-delivery as also on the crown and nisi prius side
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until after she bore her child. The plea was available at least as early as 1387 and was eventually rendered obsolete by the
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96:. Even those women who were subsequently executed pursuant to their original sentences were often executed behind schedule.
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have shown that women granted such reprieves were often subsequently granted pardons or had their sentences commuted to
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includes a character who successfully pleaded her belly despite being "no more with child than the judge that tried ".
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both used this plea to delay execution, although it is unclear if either woman was actually pregnant.
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It appears that women were often fraudulently or erroneously found to be quick with child.
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Oldham, James (1985). "On
Pleading the Belly". In Knafla, Louis A (ed.).
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190:(2nd ed.). S. Roycroft for Henry Twyford. 1682. pp. 61–63.
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Means, Cyril (1971). "The
Phoenix of Abortional Freedom".
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Sessions Papers and Assize records from the reigns of
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27:Pregnant woman's death sentence reprieve request
205:. Vol. 6. London: Meckler. pp. 1–64.
54:which permitted a woman in the later stages of
64:Sentence of Death (Expectant Mothers) Act 1931
139:or the local sheriff was subject to a fine.
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278:Legal issues in pregnancy
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50:was a process in English
203:Criminal Justice History
131:As a check against this
224:Defoe, Daniel (1722).
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273:English criminal law
133:abuse of the system
283:Capital punishment
248:The Beggar's Opera
245:Gay, John (1728).
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105:Mary Read
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41:Mary Read
253:Archived
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120:John Gay
90:James I
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