An Illinois man has been charged with allegedly dosing his pregnant girlfriend with abortion pills without her knowledge, causing her to suffer a miscarriage, according to authorities.
Emerson Evans, 31, from the city of Normal, was arrested after authorities arrived at a Bloomington residence at 7 p.m. Friday and discovered a pregnant woman suffering a medical emergency, the Bloomington Police Department said in a statement.
Investigators eventually learned Evans gave the woman abortion pills to induce a miscarriage without her consent that evening, according to cops.
The woman was Evans’ girlfriend and was seven weeks pregnant at the time. It is unclear if Evans was the father, IPM Newsroom reported.
He allegedly inserted four Mifepristone pills into his girlfriend’s vagina, the outlet said. Only one pill is supposed to be taken orally as a first step in a medical abortion.
She experienced medical complications and “suffered a miscarriage, resulting in the loss of her pregnancy,” following the alleged drugging, police said.
Evans has been charged with two counts of intentional homicide of an unborn child, police said.
“We are again saddened by the alleged criminal actions which resulted in harm to others. It is my hope the mother involved in the matter fully recovers and has the resources and support of this strong community in the future,” Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington said in a statement.
“The officers and detectives worked diligently and honorably through this very tough investigation,” he said.
Evans was ordered to be held in custody, IPM reported.
“Frankly, the number of pills demonstrates a lack of knowledge or consent,” Judge Amy McFarland said at the court hearing, according to the outlet.
Evans sought to “effectuate his beliefs of what should occur in the absence of consent. That involved taking a life,” McFarland told the court.
He allegedly told police he “made the decision” for his girlfriend, the judge noted.
Abortion is legal in Illinois, but intentional homicide of an unborn child is a serious charge. It carries a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count, Michael Gizzi, a criminal justice professor at Illinois State University, told the outlet
The incident comes as a Texas woman claimed earlier this month in a federal lawsuit that a US Marine got her pregnant and then secretly spiked her hot chocolate with abortion pills — ending her pregnancy without her consent after she refused his repeated demands to “get rid of it.”
Evans’ lawyer was not immediately available for comment by the time of publication.
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