A Louisiana man was arrested Friday on felony charges after allegedly giving a pregnant woman the abortion pill mifepristone without her knowledge, forcing her to undergo an emergency delivery that has left the infant hospitalized. Jamelle Kelly, 39, is accused of first-degree feticide and domestic abuse of a pregnant woman, according to the Carencro Police Department in Louisiana.The risk of abortion coercion has been a chief argument of anti-abortion activists in trying to get the Food and Drug Administration to reinstate safety protocols that require women to have an in-person doctor visit before receiving a prescription for mifepristone.
Mifepristone is involved in nearly two-thirds of the roughly 1.1 million abortions in the United States each year.
WAFB of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, reported that the Carencro Police Chief David Anderson said the investigation began late last month when detectives learned the victim was given the medication without her consent.
The victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, was admitted to the hospital, where she required an emergency C-section at 23 weeks of gestation. The infant survived the surgery, weighing roughly one pound, according to authorities.
