Massachusetts Teenager Will Not Face Homicide Charges for Self-Induced Abortion

Amber Abreu, the 18-year-old Dominican immigrant charged two months ago with illegally inducing an abortion by taking the anti-ulcer drug Cytotec, will not face homicide charges.  Abreu delivered a one-pound fetus, which died 4 days later.

Apparently, the decision not to prosecute was based not on compassion for the teenager, as one might hope -- see this post -- but turned instead on the issue of proving viability.  The Boston Globe reports:

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.

See also this post.