A 31-year-old Georgia woman is behind bars on a murder charge after police say she took a drug to end her pregnancy—a case that legal experts say could be among the first of its kind in the state since Georgia enacted its strict abortion ban.
Alexia Moore was arrested on March 4 and has been held in coastal Camden County's jail on charges of murder and illegal drug possession, according to online jail records. If state prosecutors choose to pursue the murder charge, the case would mark an unprecedented legal moment in Georgia.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by Kingsland Police—a city roughly 100 miles south of Savannah—Moore arrived at a hospital on Dec. 30, complaining of abdominal pain. She told medical staff she had taken misoprostol, a drug commonly used in medication abortions, along with oxycodone, a prescription opioid painkiller.
Medical records cited in the warrant estimated Moore was 22 to 24 weeks pregnant at the time, placing the fetus near the threshold of viability. The fetus was delivered at the hospital and survived for approximately one hour, according to the warrant, which refers to it as "a human being who was born alive." The warrant further states Moore told nursing staff: "I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die."
Moore also faces charges for possessing oxycodone, which was not prescribed to her, and for possessing misoprostol, which police classified as a dangerous drug.
Camden County Coroner M. Wayne Peeples said Thursday he was called to Southeast Georgia Health System to take custody of the remains. He said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation declined to perform an autopsy. Peeples noted he did not rule the death a homicide—instead listing both the cause and manner of death as undetermined.
Pro-abortion groups responded quickly. Dana Sussman, senior vice president of Pregnancy Justice, called Moore's case "an unprecedented murder charge for an alleged abortion" and said in a statement that "no one should be criminalized for having an abortion.”
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Edmonds, executive director of the pro-life Georgia Life Alliance, said claims that the case stems from the 2019 abortion law are "misrepresenting the facts.” Edmonds argued the murder charge was appropriate in part because Moore allegedly obtained and used oxycodone illegally before the fetus died.
Georgia defense attorney Andrew Fleischman, who is not involved in the case, said the charge is legally defensible. "Murder is intentionally causing the death of a person," he said, adding that he and others had warned before the law passed that a scenario like this was possible. "I think it's a totally legally permissible case. I think they could do it. I'd be surprised if they go through with it," Fleischman said.
The final decision on whether to pursue the murder charge rests with District Attorney Keith Higgins of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, who would first need a grand jury indictment. Higgins did not immediately return requests for comment from NTD News.
A court hearing was scheduled for Monday.