A judge in Georgia has set a remarkably low bond of just $1 for a woman facing murder charges after allegedly taking medication to terminate her pregnancy at around five months. This action is against the state’s stringent abortion laws.
Alexia Moore, aged 31, has been incarcerated for nearly three weeks in Camden County following her arrest on March 4. The arrest warrant used by the police echoes the language of Georgia’s abortion ban, which prohibits abortion after six weeks of gestation.
During a bond hearing on Monday, Superior Court Judge Steven Blackerby expressed concerns about the murder charge, stating, “I think that charge is extremely problematic,” as reported by The New York Times.
The judge further commented, “That is going to be a hard charge to convict upon.”
The Georgia judge approved a $1 bond for the murder charge against Moore, who is accused of taking pills for an abortion deemed illegal by state law. (Photo by KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images)
Judge Blackerby set Moore’s total bond at $2,001, which includes two additional $1,000 bonds for her drug-related charges, in addition to the murder charge.
Moore’s case is among the first in Georgia of a woman facing charges for terminating a pregnancy since the Peach State’s abortion ban was adopted in 2019, banning abortions after embryonic cardiac activity can be detected, which is typically at about six weeks gestation.
District Attorney Keith Higgins of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit did not challenge the $1 bond in court on Monday and told the judge that police did not contact his office before charging Moore, according to reports.
Higgins’ office would need to obtain a grand jury indictment before it could take Moore to trial.
Alexia Moore, 31, posted bond and was released on Monday. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
Moore posted bond and was released on Monday, jail records show.
“Today’s decision is a reminder that justice is not served by accusation alone,” attorneys from the Georgia Public Defender Council, who are representing Moore, said in a statement.
“Our system works best when courts carefully weigh the facts, uphold constitutional protections, and safeguard the rights of every person who comes before them,” the statement added.
Moore arrived at a hospital on Dec. 30 and said she was suffering from abdominal pain, according to court records. She told hospital staff that she took misoprostol, a drug used to cause abortions, and the opioid painkiller oxycodone, according to an arrest warrant obtained by police in Kingsland, Georgia.
The woman told hospital staff she had taken misoprostol, a drug used in medication abortions, and the opioid painkiller oxycodone. (SERGEI GAPON/AFP via Getty Images)
The baby survived for about an hour after being delivered at the hospital, according to the warrant.
The warrant states that police obtained medical records estimating that Moore had been pregnant for 22 to 24 weeks. The document also cited “the medical staff’s knowledge that the baby had a beating heart and was struggling to breathe.”
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