Pennsylvania Teen Charged With Trying to Kill Girls Unborn Child With Drugs

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 1, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pennsylvania Teen Charged With Trying to Kill Girl’s Unborn Child With Drug

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 20
, 2009

Williamsburg, PA (LifeNews.com) — A Pennsylvania teenager has been charged with attempting to kill the unborn child of the girlfriend of one of his friends. Jonathan Keith Imler has been charged with attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault of an unborn child, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person.

The case involves an unnamed teenager girl who became pregnant by her 16-year-old boyfriend.

The boyfriend, a 17-year-old and Imler, banded together with an idea to kill the girl’s unborn child. Last March, they stole a bottle of ProstaMate, a liquid farmers used to cause abortions of calves, and a syringe.

The three talked about using the drug to cause an abortion of the girl’s baby and, while Imler told the other teens that wasn’t a good idea, he did nothing to stop them from going ahead with the plan.

The 17-year-old boy used the syringe to put the liquid in the girl’s drink, which she consumed not knowing the drug was present.

According to an Altoona Mirror report, the girl was alerted to the presence of the drug and eventually went to the hospital. The teenager who laced the drink told police he did so with the intent of causing the abortion.

The National Right to Life Committee indicates Pennsylvania is one of 35 states that have an unborn victims law which prosecutes defendants who target unborn children for death or injury.

An individual commits criminal homicide in the first, second, or third-degree, or voluntary manslaughter of an "unborn child" if the individual intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently causes the death of an unborn child.

On December 27, 2006, in the case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Bullock the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously rejected an array of constitutional challenges to the law, including claims based on Roe v. Wade and equal protection doctrine.

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