A South Carolina woman was arrested this week for allegedly taking abortion pills in October 2021 to end a pregnancy. The State reports the Greenville woman, who was 33 at the time, had sought medical care for labor pains. At the hospital, where she had a stillbirth, the woman informed medical staff that she had taken abortion pills. The Greenville County Coroner’s Office then reported a tip regarding a “death investigation of a fetus” to the police. 

Nearly one year after she sought medical help, a warrant for the woman’s arrest was signed in September 2022.

While abortions up to 20 weeks are legal in South Carolina, the state is one of a few states that prohibits self-medication to terminate a pregnancy. The incident report identified the woman as Black.

“Pregnancy outcomes shouldn’t be criminalized,” Ashley Lidow, the director for policy and government relations for the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network, told the State, which first reported the story.

News of the woman’s arrest comes amid heightened fear and confusion over the flood of abortion restrictions and outright bans that have been enforced since […]