Washington Post highlights woman who buried baby in nearby park after receiving black market abortion pills
The woman received the pills on Reddit from an international network originating in Mexico
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Washington Post highlighted a story about a woman who buried her baby in a nearby park after receiving abortion pills smuggled in from Mexico.
The 25-year-old woman, only identified as Monica, was connected through Reddit to an international network delivering thousands of abortion pills to women throughout the United States in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
The woman first attempted to give herself an abortion through a night of heavy drinking, and then through mugworm tea, a herbal concoction she had read about online. After connecting with a group selling abortion pills, Monica’s shipment arrived in a cat flea medication box.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Her boyfriend expressed concern that the pills could be counterfeit and potentially laced with a number of dangerous substances, maybe even fentanyl. Living paycheck to paycheck, she thought taking the pills was her only option.
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Afraid to go to the hospital, Monica laid herself in the filled bathtub of her home after cramps that progressively increased in intensity. After a period of time in significant pain, Monica felt a sudden release and cried out.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The fetus was floating in the water. Slightly smaller than her palm, the fetus had a head, hands, and legs, she said. Defined fingers and toes," The Post wrote.
She learned that she was about 13 weeks along at the time, well past the 10-week recommendation from the FDA for taking abortion pills.
Hours later, Monica and her boyfriend deicide they wanted to say their goodbyes and perform a ritual. They gathered wildflowers, placed the fetus in a cardboard box, and headed out for their favorite park. The couple buried the body deep enough in the woods where they had hoped a dog would not catch the scent and dig it up.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I hope in the future, when I am ready, your soul will find me again. It just wasn’t our time," Monica recalled saying after the burial was complete.
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The Washington Post spoke with 17 people involved in the black market operation from which Monica acquired the medication used to conduct her abortion. Most spoke under the condition of anonymity, given the subject matter. The paper also observed distributors handling and shipping pills on the condition that the locations not be disclosed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The distribution chain involves a supply chain pipeline beginning in Mexico where suppliers, funded by anonymous donors in the U.S., send the pills to U.S. volunteers. The Post revealed that at least one of the suppliers is a nurse.
The nurse, who works at an abortion clinic in the U.S., allegedly instructed 20 women on how to acquire the pills. She even shipped pills to some women who were too afraid to do so themselves.
Mexican group Las Libres, at the epicenter of the network, says its organization alone is on track to terminate approximately 20,000 pregnancies this year in the U.S.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Some experts that spoke with the Post worried that as networks expand and demand rises that women could receive dangerous counterfeit pills. Such instances of counterfeit pills have previously circulated in countries with strict abortion laws.