A Georgia woman is facing a murder charge after police say she took pills to induce an abortion in violation of a state law that prohibits most abortions.
The woman, Alexia Moore, was arrested on March 4, months after she was rushed to the emergency room with abdominal pain, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
During an investigation, police learned that Moore allegedly took misoprostol, a drug that induces an abortion, according to a report from the Kingsland Police Department. The infant girl was delivered in the emergency room prematurely and had major health issues, including respiratory problems, the report says.
The baby was alive for about an hour before she died, the warrant says.
In 2019, Georgia passed a law that prohibits an abortion after a detectable human heartbeat. That’s generally at about six weeks’ gestation.
Exceptions are made in the event of a medical emergency and in cases of rape or incest that involve an official police report and where the probable gestational age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or less.
Moore, 31, had been pregnant for 22 to 24 weeks based on medical information that the baby had a “beating heart and was struggling to breathe,” according to the warrant.
Police said that Moore was taken to the hospital by ambulance on Dec. 30 after her friend found her in the bathroom of her home in severe pain. The friend, who went with her to the hospital, told police that Moore said she was going to take misoprostol and oxycodone, according to the report.
Moore faces charges of murder, possession of dangerous drugs, and possession of a controlled substance. According to jail records she’s been held in Camden County, Georgia, since her arrest.
District Attorney Keith Higgins of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
