Georgia Woman Charged with Murder in Abortion Case

A 31-year-old woman in coastal Georgia has been charged with murder after taking abortion medication at home, which led to the premature delivery of a fetus that lived for about an hour before dying at a hospital, according to court documents and arrest records.

Alexia Moore of Kingsland was arrested on March 4 in Camden County, near the Florida border, and remains in jail without bond. She faces felony murder charges, as well as possession of controlled substances, for allegedly ingesting misoprostol, a drug used to induce abortion, and oxycodone, an opioid painkiller, while pregnant. The incident occurred on December 30, when Moore arrived at Southeast Georgia Health System's Camden Campus complaining of severe abdominal pain. Medical staff determined she was between 22 and 24 weeks pregnant. She informed doctors that she had taken 200 milligrams of misoprostol earlier that day and had also used oxycodone.

According to the arrest warrant, Moore delivered a female infant who showed cardiac activity and struggled to breathe but died approximately one hour after birth from respiratory failure. Toxicology tests detected oxycodone in the infant's blood. The warrant alleges that...