Murder Charges Dropped For Georgia Woman Who Took Four Abortion Pills To Terminate Her Pregnancy After Breaking Up With Boyfriend

It was concluded on Wednesday that a Georgia woman who took four abortion pills to terminate her pregnancy will not face murder charges. Instead, she will face a misdemeanor charge of possessing a dangerous drug, according to MSN.

At 5 1/2 months pregnant, 23-year-old Kenlissia Jones gave birth to a baby boy in the back seat of her neighbor’s car. Once they arrived at the hospital, the baby died 30 minutes later.

When Jones’ family arrived, they had no idea she was pregnant; they were also unaware that she had taken four abortion pills, Cytotec, prior to giving birth.

Murder charge dropped against woman who took abortion pills http://t.co/R3PI8NLeaO

— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) June 10, 2015

“These past four days, I cried buckets of tears; I cried in that lady’s office for a long time,” Ricco Riggins said who is Jones’ relative. “It was gut-wrenching.

“I hate it. I just really, really hate it.”

Apparently, Jones was pregnant a total of three times and kept two pregnancies a secret. Her two older children were placed in the care of family members after their birth.

Once hospital staff became aware of the abortion pill consumption, Georgia police were notified, and Jones was taken into custody.

She was charged with murder.

“She was arrested and held without bond in a health crisis,” said attorney Lynn Paltrow. “You do not want to have a pregnant woman fear arrest as a result of the outcome of her pregnancy or for seeking health care.”

However, the state of Georgia does not prosecute women who opt to terminate their own pregnancy. Therefore, her murder charges were dropped, and Jones now face a misdemeanor charge of possessing a dangerous drug, the Washington Post reports.

Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards released a statement following the dropped murder charges that stated: “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.”

“Although third parties could be criminally prosecuted for their actions relating to an illegal abortion, as the law currently stands in Georgia, criminal prosecution of a pregnant woman for her own actions against her unborn child does not seem permitted.

“The reason that we’re not prosecuting is because the law provides immunity to mothers in any act that may be committed against their unborn fetus.”

Jones has since been released from Albany county jail, but is still facing a misdemeanor charge following the death of her baby boy.

[Image courtesy of Getty Images]