No Murder Charges for Woman after Induced Abortion

A Georgia prosecutor dismissed murder charges Wednesday against a woman accused of inducing an abortion by taking pills, in a case that baffled even pro-life advocates.

Kenlissa Jones, 23, took four pills of Cytotec, a drug which she purchased on the Internet to induce the abortion.

A hospital social worker told police Jones went into labor and delivered the fetus in a car on the way to the hospital. The fetus did not survive. Investigators say the baby in the womb was five-and-a-half months old.

Abortion-rights advocates and pro-lifers alike had said they were stunned by the initial murder charge. Georgia law prohibits the prosecution of women for feticide or for performing illegal abortions in cases involving their own pregnancies.

After reviewing the law, Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards said he reached the same conclusion, dismissing the malice murder charge against Jones.

"Georgia law presently does not permit prosecution of Ms. Jones for any alleged acts related to the end of her pregnancy," the prosecutor's statement said.

Jones' brother, Rico Riggins, said the family is in shock, saying he didn't even know his sister was pregnant. He said she must have suffered tremendously during her self-inflicted abortion.

"Once she took those pills, from the way I'm understanding it, she was in a world of hurt for a while," he said.

Riggins is asking for prayer for the family.

"We're hoping the best we can. We're hoping we get a lot of prayer," he said. "We lost what would have been a nephew for me, and everything. And then my sister."

Jones still faces a misdemeanor charge of possession of a dangerous drug.