Nationwide — Alexia Moore, a 31-year-old African American woman from Kingsland, Georgia, has been charged with murder after taking pills to end her pregnancy. Authorities said her fetus survived for about an hour after delivery, and Moore admitted to hospital staff that she had caused the abortion.
Moore went to a hospital on December 30, complaining of abdominal pain. Court records show she told staff she had taken misoprostol, a medication used for abortions, along with oxycodone, a prescription painkiller, without a prescription. Toxicology tests reportedly found oxycodone in the fetus’ blood.
According to Action News 5, police say Moore told hospital staff, “I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die.”
Medical staff determined she had been 22 to 24 weeks pregnant, near the threshold of viability. Under Georgia law, embryos with detectable cardiac activity are considered persons, which allows prosecutors to pursue murder charges.
Moore has been held in Camden County Jail since March 4. Her attorney has requested a bond and a speedy trial. The decision to move forward with the murder charge rests with District Attorney Keith Higgins, who would first need a grand jury indictment.
The case comes amid a nationwide rise in criminal charges linked to pregnancy. A 2024 Pregnancy Justice study found over 210 women were charged with pregnancy-related crimes in the year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, with most cases involving substance use during pregnancy.
Authorities say Moore obtained the abortion pills online and got the opioid from a relative. She faces additional charges for illegally possessing controlled substances.
Camden County Coroner M. Wayne Peeples said the cause of death was undetermined and noted that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation declined to perform an autopsy. Anti-abortion advocates argued the charges were appropriate due to drug use and the fetus’ survival after birth.