Georgia woman faces murder charge over chemical abortion after baby lived for hour after delivery

A 31-year-old woman in Georgia is facing a murder charge after law enforcement said she took misoprostol to abort her baby. The case could become one of the first of its kind in the state following its 2019 abortion restrictions. The woman had been pregnant for 22 to 24 weeks, placing the baby at the threshold of viability and the baby was alive for an hour outside the womb. 

Charging documents said Alexia Moore took the pills to induce an abortion and stated that she was more than six weeks pregnant, citing that “the baby had a beating heart and was struggling to breathe.”

Moore went to a hospital on Dec. 30 reporting abdominal pain, according to court filings. Investigators say she told medical staff she had taken misoprostol and oxycodone, per the New York Post. Moore told nurses: “I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die,” police wrote in the warrant for her arrest.

Legal experts are closely watching the case, which could set a precedent concerning legal consequences for abortion. “No one should be criminalized for having an abortion,” said Dana Sussman of Pregnancy Justice, who said the situation is “an unprecedented murder charge for an alleged abortion.”

Moore has been held in Camden County since March 4 on charges including murder as well as illegal drug possession. Moore’s attorney has requested bond and a speedy trial, and a hearing is scheduled for Monday. Prosecutors, led by District Attorney Keith Higgins, must still decide whether to pursue the murder charge and secure a grand jury indictment.

Authorities estimate Moore was 22 to 24 weeks pregnant when she took the abortion pills, which is the point of viability. The warrant describes the fetus as “a human being who was born alive and survived for one hour. Under Georgia law, the victim became a person at the moment of live birth.”

Georgia law states that a fetus in utero is considered a person when cardiac activity is detected. Georgia defense attorney Andrew Fleischman, who is not connected to the case, said that authorities could seek murder charges because of the legal classification.

Others dispute the legal framing. Elizabeth Edmonds of Georgia Life Alliance said claims tying the case to abortion law are “misrepresenting the facts and trying to again make it a fear-mongering thing that Georgia is prosecuting women on pregnancy outcomes.”

Toxicology results found oxycodone in the baby's blood, though misoprostol could not be detected. Officials said Moore obtained the pills online and the opioid from a relative. The coroner ruled the cause of the baby’s death undetermined.