A 31-year-old woman in Georgia, Alexia Moore, has been charged with murder after police allege she took pills to induce an abortion. If prosecuted, it would be one of the first such cases under the state's 2019 law banning most abortions.
According to an arrest warrant, Moore arrived at a hospital on 30 December complaining of abdominal pain. She told medical staff she had taken misoprostol, a drug used in medication abortions, and the opioid painkiller oxycodone. The fetus survived for about an hour after delivery, the warrant states.
The warrant quotes police as saying Moore told nursing staff: 'I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die.' The charge uses language echoing Georgia's law, which bans abortion after embryonic cardiac activity can be detected, typically around six weeks.
Moore has been held in Camden County jail since 4 March on charges of murder and illegal drug possession. Her attorney has filed motions seeking bond and a speedy trial, with a hearing scheduled for Monday. The decision to prosecute lies with District Attorney Keith Higgins, who must first obtain a grand jury indictment.
Advocacy group Pregnancy Justice condemned the charge, with senior vice-president Dana Sussman calling it 'an unprecedented murder charge for an alleged abortion' and stating that 'no one should be criminalized for having an abortion.'
