The infant delivered after an alleged illegal abortion attempt in late December died due to “undetermined causes,” according to the Camden County coroner, although local police have charged the mother, Alexia Moore, with attempted murder.
Coroner Wayne Peebles confirmed to The Current GA that the gestational age of the baby, who was delivered by medical staff after Moore was admitted to the emergency room in late December, was between 22 and 24 weeks old. That time frame falls beyond Georgia’s restrictive abortion law, which prohibits abortion when an ultrasound can detect fetal cardiac activity.
Peebles said that he did not include a cause of death in his report for the female infant, who lived for approximately one hour after delivery.
Moore’s arrest on March 6 came two months after she allegedly sought to end her pregnancy with abortion medication and is based in part on interviews police had with her as she was recovering at the emergency room at Southeast Georgia Health Center and with her friend, who had called 911 after Moore was experiencing severe pain after taking the medication.
Moore, who lives in Kingsland, believed she was less than 14 weeks pregnant when she ingested the abortion medication called misoprostol, according to the police report and search warrants for her medical records.
In addition to felony attempted murder, the 31-year-old U.S. Army veteran and mother of two is facing two other charges, including possession of a controlled substance and a dangerous drug.
Moore is the first mother accused of attempted murder under Georgia’s LIFE Act, which was passed in 2019 but went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She is being held at the Camden County jail in an isolated unit awaiting arraignment. The Georgia Public Defender Council declined to provide comment at this time.
According to the police report, Moore told an investigator who came into her exam room at the ER that she had experienced a menstrual period in October. Her friend, who was in the waiting room of the hospital, told police that Moore had not seen an obstetrician during her pregnancy. Moore told the investigator that she had ordered prescription abortion medication through a website that helps women access abortion care in states where abortion is severely restricted.
Thirteen states ban all abortion, and an additional seven states ban abortion between six to 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to KFF, the health policy research organization. Women’s health advocates say that many people can’t tell they are pregnant in these early gestational stages. Thirty other states allow abortion for women up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, or even later.
The viability of a fetus outside of a mother’s uterus is a complicated matter. Probabilities of survival depend on multiple factors, including gestational age as well as the underlying health of the mother, according to doctors who spoke to The Current. A fetus born prematurely at 24 weeks can survive with intensive medical care and has a much higher probability of living than one born at 22 weeks, according to medical research.
The police report said that the infant delivered by medical staff at the ER “was beyond six weeks of conception based on the medical staff’s knowledge that the baby had a beating heart and was struggling to breathe.”
Moore’s medical record listed the infant’s cause of death as “neonatal complications, respiratory distress, requiring intubation and respiratory distress needing oxygen,” according to the arrest warrant for murder signed by Kingsland Police investigator Michael Gonzalez.
“Number one, she’s in the hospital in pain. She’s already messed up in the head. Why are you asking her questions?” said Edith Moore, mother of Alexia Moore.
Gonzalez, in the arrest warrant, said that Moore’s intent to kill was established by “her own verbal admission” to him during his interview with her at the ER that she wanted to terminate her pregnancy. He quoted Moore as saying she had “a number” of previous abortions.
“It’s his words versus hers. Are there any witnesses that can confirm she said that?” Moore said.
Blood work taken after the infant died tested positive for Oxycodone, according to the police report. Moore told police that she had taken that medication to relieve pain after ingesting the abortion medication, according to the arrest warrant. Misoprostol causes cramping and bleeding to empty the uterus.
Moore is scheduled to be in court on Monday. District Attorney Keith Higgins declined to provide comment.