A 31-year-old Georgia woman was arrested and accused of murder after allegedly taking abortion pills and oxycodone that resulted in her baby being born alive and dying shortly after birth.
Alexia Moore, of Kingsland, was arrested on March 4 and was being held in Camden County jail on suspicion of murder and drug possession after police say she took drugs in late December to abort her baby in the second trimester of pregnancy, USA Today reported.
Moore was rushed to Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus’ emergency room on December 30 for severe abdominal pain, the report states, citing a March 5 arrest warrant. According to police, Moore allegedly took several abortion pills called misoprostol, which she told hospital staff she ordered online. Police said she also allegedly took an unprescribed oxycodone pill, an opioid that she allegedly got from a relative.
The arrest warrant said Moore caused the death of 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.” Officials estimated the baby was between 22 and 24 weeks gestation, far beyond the ten weeks within which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends women take the abortion pill. Moore told police she did not know how far along she was.
Media reports claim the case could be the first of a woman being prosecuted for an abortion under Georgia’s heartbeat law, which bans abortions after six weeks. According to USA Today, local police cited the 2019 law, saying the baby was “well beyond six weeks of conception based on the medical staff’s knowledge that the baby had a beating heart and was struggling to breathe.”
The Georgia Life Alliance, the leading pro-life group behind the passage of the heartbeat bill, called the LIFE Act, said such media claims are false, and noted that “Georgia law does not criminalize miscarriage or pregnancy outcomes, and this case should not be mischaracterized as such.”
The organization said in an article in Life News that if murder charges are pursued, it would be related to Moore taking drugs that were allegedly obtained illegally that resulted in the baby being born alive and ultimately dying.
“Ms. Moore is not being charged with crimes under Georgia’s LIFE Act,” said Georgia Life Alliance’s Executive Director, Elizabeth Edmonds. “This innocent baby girl was born alive and under Georgia law, her death is being investigated and prosecuted like any other.”
Per the USA Today report, local prosecutors have not pursued an indictment against Moore. Moore had a hearing scheduled for Monday.
Moore’s attorneys have demanded a speedy trial but did not immediately respond to the outlet’s request for comment. Neither did law enforcement officials involved in the case. The Southeast Georgia Health System told the outlet it was unable to comment on the case.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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