Monday, July 7, 2025 - A Scottish paramedic who secretly administered an abortion drug to a pregnant woman, causing her to miscarry, has been sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison.
Stephen Doohan, 33, was convicted at the High Court in
Glasgow after pleading guilty in May to charges of assault, sexual assault, and
unlawfully procuring an abortion. He was also placed on the sex offenders
register and handed a non-harassment order preventing him from contacting the
victim.
Doohan, who served as a Clinical Team Leader with the
Scottish Ambulance Service and was married at the time, met the woman while on
holiday in Spain in 2021. They remained in contact and, by March 2023, she
informed him she was pregnant with his child.
At the time, Doohan was living separately from his wife in
Edinburgh’s Grange area. The court heard that during a visit to his flat,
Doohan crushed abortion pills into a syringe and administered them to the woman
without her knowledge while she lay on his bed. He later gave her more of the
drug.
Soon after, the woman began experiencing severe abdominal
pain and fainted in the shower. She later discovered the pregnancy had been
terminated, and suspicions about Doohan’s actions were confirmed when she found
a syringe and tablets hidden under a mattress in his home. She also discovered
online that the tablets matched the description of misoprostol, a medication
used to induce abortion.
Doohan initially denied wrongdoing, then admitted he had
administered the drug but claimed it was the wrong dosage and would not be
effective. He tried to prevent the woman from contacting the authorities,
offering gifts including money, perfume, and football tickets. However, the
woman recorded a conversation in which he effectively confessed, and she
reported him to the Scottish Ambulance Service.
An internal investigation passed the case to police.
Prosecutors revealed Doohan had researched the drug online on the same day the
woman informed him of her pregnancy. Misoprostol, the drug used, can be
prescribed to induce miscarriages or abortions but must be administered under
strict medical guidelines.
The woman gave a statement describing the psychological and
emotional toll the ordeal had taken on her. Lord Colbeck, sentencing, described
Doohan’s actions as “manipulative” and “calculated,” stating the victim’s
account “radiates with raw pain.”
He said, “You researched and planned what you did to your victim. You used resources available to you as a paramedic before manipulating the woman and executing that plan under the guise of consensual sexual activity… The offences committed by you, frankly, are almost as serious as any this court is ever asked to sentence.”
Doohan’s guilty plea reduced his sentence from a potential 14 years. A charge of stealing misoprostol from his workplace was dropped.
His defence counsel said Doohan was “deeply sorry” and had been struggling
with personal issues at the time.
The case has prompted renewed scrutiny over access to medical drugs and
the responsibilities of healthcare professionals, as well as highlighting the
dangers of coercive reproductive control.
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