Thursday, 4:30 PM
Woman spared homicide charge in abortion
By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff
An 18-year-old Dominican immigrant charged two months ago with illegally inducing an abortion by taking anti-ulcer pills will not face homicide charges, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Prosecutors had been considering the more serious charge after Amber Abreu prematurely delivered a 1-pound girl named Ashley at Lawrence General Hospital on Jan. 6. She died four days later. Abreu, a Lawrence resident, allegedly admitted that she had taken three Cytotec pills before giving birth, an abortion method that is common in some Latin American communities, authorities said.
Abortion is illegal in Massachusetts after 24 weeks of pregnancy, and any action to cause a miscarriage after that threshold could lead to homicide charges.
The state medical examiner determined that Abreu’s fetus had been 25 weeks old at death, according to the Essex district attorney’s office. Prosecutors, however, decided that they would probably not be able to convince a jury that Ashley was a viable human being who had been killed.
"The baby was 25 weeks, and you can’t prove viability beyond a reasonable doubt at 25 weeks," said Steve O’Connell, a spokesman for the office.
Wednesday, an Essex County grand jury indicted Abreu on the lesser charge of illegally procuring an abortion, a felony that carries up to seven years in prison if convicted. Abreu has been released on $15,000 bail. O’Connell said she will be arraigned in Salem Superior Court within the next two weeks.
