Lucy Devine
A woman has been charged with murder after allegedly taking abortion pills in Georgia, US.
In the state, abortion is illegal after cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks' gestation (around two weeks after a missed period, based on a 28-day cycle).
Alexia Moore, 31, was charged after allegedly terminating her pregnancy, with police claiming she was beyond six weeks pregnant 'based on the medical staff’s knowledge that the baby had a beating heart and was struggling to breathe'.
Court records explain that Moore arrived at hospital, telling staff that she had taken misoprostol and painkiller oxycodone.
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Misoprostol is a drug commonly used in termination and usually combined with a second drug called mifepristone.
An arrest warrant for Moore obtained by police explains that Moore allegedly told staff: “I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die.”
The fetus allegedly survived for around an hour after birth, with the Washington Post reporting that Moore was between 22 and 24 weeks gestation.
“No one should be criminalized for having an abortion,” Dana Sussman, senior vice-president of the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice said, adding that the case was 'an unprecedented murder charge for an alleged abortion'.
Sussman added that Georgia's abortion law 'does not contemplate murder charges for someone who has an abortion, and self-managing an abortion is not a criminal act in Georgia. Charging Ms. Moore with murder is cruel and unjust'.
The decision of whether to prosecute Moore is now down to district attorney Keith Higgins.
In the meantime, it is reported that Moore has been jailed in Camden since early March on charges of murder and illegal drug possession.
Law in Georgia dictates that it is illegal to terminate an embryo once there is a heartbeat.
Planned Parenthood explain there are a few exceptions - for example, if the pregnant person's life or health are in serious danger, when the fetus can't survive, and in some cases of rape, incest, or human trafficking.
Defense attorney Andrew Fleischman told the New York Post that this means a murder charge could be sought if a woman intentionally terminates a pregnancy when there is cardiac activity.
“Murder is intentionally causing the death of a person,” he said.
“I’m not sure prosecutors are eager to be the first one to jump this hurdle. I think it’s a totally legally permissible case. I think they could do it. I’d be surprised if they go through with it.”