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KINGSLAND, Ga. (AP) — In a striking development, a Georgia judge has set a bond of just $1 for a murder charge against a woman accused of illegally inducing an abortion by taking medication.
At a bond hearing, Superior Court Judge Steven Blackerby expressed doubt about the prosecution’s ability to secure a conviction on the murder charge. “I think that charge is extremely problematic,” Judge Blackerby remarked, according to The New York Times. “That is going to be a hard charge to convict upon.”
Judge Blackerby decided on a total bond of $2,001 for Alexia Moore, who had been detained for nearly three weeks in Camden County. The unique bond arrangement included $1 for the murder charge and $1,000 for each of two separate drug charges that Moore is facing.
The arrest of the 31-year-old Moore on March 4 was executed under a warrant closely aligned with a Georgia statute prohibiting abortions once embryonic cardiac activity is detectable, typically around six weeks of pregnancy—a time frame before many women are even aware they are expecting.
This case marks one of the initial instances in Georgia where a woman has faced charges for terminating a pregnancy under the 2019 law, highlighting the contentious legal landscape surrounding abortion rights in the state.
The judge’s $1 bond raises questions about how a murder case against Moore might proceed.
District Attorney Keith Higgins of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit didn’t oppose the bond amount in court Monday and told the judge that police didn’t consult his office before they charged Moore, according to reports by The New York Times and the Georgia news website The Current.
In order to send Moore to trial for murder, Higgins’ office would first need to obtain an indictment from a grand jury. A person who answered the phone at Higgins’ office Tuesday said he does not comment on pending cases.
Online jail records show that Moore posted bond and was released Monday. She is being represented by attorneys from the Georgia Public Defender Council, which applauded the judge’s decision.
“Today’s decision is a reminder that justice is not served by accusation alone,” the council 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.”
Court records say Moore arrived at a hospital Dec. 30 complaining of abdominal pain. She told medical workers that she had taken misoprostol, a drug used in medication abortions, and the opioid painkiller oxycodone, according to an arrest warrant obtained by police in Kingsland, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Savannah.
The fetus survived for about an hour after being delivered at the hospital, the warrant says.
The arrest warrant charging Moore says police obtained medical records estimating that Moore had been pregnant for 22 to 24 weeks. The warrant also cited “the medical staff’s knowledge that the baby had a beating heart and was struggling to breathe.”