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As the pregnancy progressed the then 28-year-old managed to hide it from Mr Sharkey and her wider family by wearing baggy clothes and isolating herself over winter, she said.

Living in the Western Isles, and aware she was classed as a "high risk" and a "geriatric" pregnancy, she knew she would have to deliver in a hospital on the mainland.

Denmark recently liberalized its abortion law, raising the right to obtain abortion upon request to up to 18 weeks of pregnancy from 12 weeks, beginning June 1.

Research suggests pregnancy at older ages increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and labour.

The Biden administration, he noted, went to the Supreme Court to protect access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used to medically end pregnancy.