A 31-year-old Black woman is facing an unprecedented murder charge in the state of Georgia.

On March 4, Kingsland Police arrested Alexia Moore after cops say she took abortion pills after the six-week mark into her pregnancy. 

According to court records, the U.S. Army veteran showed up at a hospital doubled over in pain on Dec. 30. She explained to medical workers that she had taken misoprostol—a drug used in medication-induced abortions— and oxycodone for the pain. The fetus was delivered at the hospital and survived for approximately two hours. The coroner did not rule the death a homicide and labeled both the cause and manner of death as undetermined.

Under Georgia’s restrictive Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, abortion is illegal after cardiac activity is detected in a fetus, which is normally around six weeks. Records show that Moore was anywhere between 22 to 24 weeks pregnant. 

Her case is one of the first instances of a woman being charged for terminating a pregnancy in Georgia since it passed a 2019 law banning most abortions. Her mother, Edith Moore, described her daughter as a patriot and shared with the Georgia Recorder that the arrest has caused fear and anxiety in Moore’s six-year-old and nine-year-old children, who don’t understand why their mother is in jail.

“As a mother, and me talking as a grandma, she’s an excellent mother. I believe her children are her life. She has been a good provider for her children,” said Edith, who is also a pastor. 

Moore is currently jailed in Camden County on charges of murder and drug possession while prosecutors weigh whether to take the case to a grand jury.

Reproductive rights groups warn that Moore’s arrest will deepen fear and mistrust among pregnant people, especially Black women who already face higher risks and more surveillance in health care.

“No one should be criminalized for having an abortion,” said Dana Sussman, senior vice president of the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice, in a statement, calling Moore’s case “an unprecedented murder charge for an alleged abortion.”

In 2015, a 23-year-old Georgia woman was also arrested and charged with murder after she terminated her pregnancy with abortion pills. Though the charges were dismissed.

In a statement, the Dougherty County district attorney, Greg Edwards, said, “This morning, I dismissed that malice murder warrant after thorough legal research by myself and my staff led to the conclusion that Georgia law presently does not permit prosecution of Ms. Jones for any alleged acts relating to the end of her pregnancy.” 

A court hearing was scheduled for Monday.