Joanna Jepson

Who is Joanna Jepson?

Joanna Jepson is a Church of England priest. She is most notable for instigating a legal challenge to the late abortion of a 28-week-old fetus in 2001. The reasons given for the termination were associated with the fetus having a cleft lip and palate - grounds which Jepson argued did not constitute "a serious handicap" under the terms of the 1967 UK Abortion Act.

Jepson, who was born with a jaw deformity herself, and whose brother is disabled, argued that the abortion was an "unlawful killing". However, in 2005 a judicial review concluded that the doctors carrying out the abortion had "acted in good faith", and would not face prosecution.