Man Accused of Giving Girlfriend Drug to Force Abortion, Caused Miscarriage
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 6, 2010
Grand Junction, CO (LifeNews.com) — A Utah man who formerly lived in western Colorado stands accused of giving his pregnant girlfriend the second part of the two-part abortion drug in an attempt to force her to have an abortion. There is merely the latest in what is becoming a growing national and international phenomenon.
In this case, 31-year-old Jared Merril Ahlstrom appeared in Mesa County District Court on Tuesday where he faces a felony charge of unlawful termination of pregnancy.
The Associated Press indicates investigators said Ahlstrom sent emails to his former girlfriend saying he had given her misoprostol to cause an abortion.
He allegedly obtained the drug, which is an ulcer medication that is misused in the two-part RU 486 abortion drug process to cause contractions and expel the body of the dead unborn child, in Mexico.
Ahlstrom’s ex-girlfriend told police officials he had asked her to have an abortion but she refused, so he attempted to end her pregnancy by giving her the drug without her consent.
The two went hiking and the unnamed woman eventually gave birth to a stillborn baby boy delivered at 16 weeks into the pregnancy. The boyfriend admitted in the emails, coming 18 months after the miscarriage, that he gave his girlfriend the drug.
Ahlstrom admitted he gave her the drug twice by lacing her food with it. He eventually moved out of their home they shared together following the pregnancy.
The Grand Junction Police Department says Ahlstrom, who moved to Utah after the incident, turned himself in to Utah authorities without incident.
Suspicions were raised when the girlfriend wanted to have the baby’s remains examined and Ahlstrom lobbied her to have the baby cremated but did not want the ashes.
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