A Georgia judge has set a $1 bond on a murder charge for a 31-year-old woman accused by police of using pills to end her pregnancy under the state's restrictive abortion law.
Superior Court Judge Steven Blackerby approved the bond during a hearing on Monday in Camden County for Alexia Moore, who was arrested on Mar. 4. Moore had been jailed for nearly three weeks before the decision.
The court set Moore's total bond at $2,001, including $1 on the malice murder charge and $1,000 each on two separate drug-related counts. She was released after posting bond, according to state public defender officials, according to NBC Miami.
Police obtained an arrest warrant that cited Georgia's 2019 law banning most abortions after embryonic cardiac activity can be detected, generally around six weeks of pregnancy. Authorities allege Moore took abortion pills in violation of that statute.
Court and medical records show Moore went to a hospital in December, complaining of abdominal pain and telling staff she had taken misoprostol, a medication commonly used in abortions, along with oxycodone. Investigators said records indicated she was around 22 to 24 weeks pregnant, and that the fetus lived for about an hour after delivery.
During Monday's hearing, Blackerby described the murder charge as "extremely problematic" and said it would be difficult for the state to win a conviction. The judge's comments and the low bond raised new questions about whether the case will move forward.
Under Georgia law, prosecutors must still seek an indictment from a grand jury before the murder case can proceed. District Attorney Keith Higgins told the court that police did not consult his office before filing the murder charge and did not oppose the bond amount, US News reported.
Georgia's current abortion law, known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act or House Bill 481, bans most abortions once embryonic or fetal cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy.
The statute includes limited exceptions in cases of medical emergency, medically futile pregnancies, or rape and incest if a police report has been filed and the pregnancy is under 20 weeks, and it also recognizes "unborn children" as persons under state law.
Moore's case is among the first in Georgia in which a woman herself has been charged with murder in connection with terminating a pregnancy since the 2019 law took effect after the fall of Roe v. Wade.
Legal advocates say the outcome could help define how far the state's abortion restrictions and fetal "personhood" provisions can be used in criminal prosecutions, as per NPR.
