Man who slipped abortion drug to mistress gets one year in prison

An ex-nurse practitioner from Washington who slipped his mistress an abortion drug during sex has been sentenced to one year in prison for the crime.

Key Takeaways:

• David Benjamin Coots, 43, pled guilty to second-degree assault, tampering with a witness, and fourth-degree assault for forcing an abortion drug into his mistress without her knowledge or consent.

• Coots’ defense team maintained that the victim was never pregnant, though Coots did admit to giving her the abortion drug.

• Reduced regulations surrounding abortion drugs make it easier for predators to give them to women, without their knowledge or consent.

The Backstory:

Live Action News previously shared the story of Coots, who forcibly inserted abortion pill drugs into his mistress during sex. Though Coots was a married father of five, he led his victim to believe he was getting a divorce, which was untrue. When she became pregnant with their child, he appeared to be supportive; in reality, he was planning the covert abortion.

In January 2024, he inserted misoprostol — the second drug used in the abortion pill regimen — inside the woman during sex to cause an abortion. She later went to the emergency room with heavy bleeding where the pills were discovered inside her. Her child did not survive.

Though the victim later filed a protection order against Coots, he violated the order and continued to contact her after the incident. Both he and his wife, Melissa Coots, offered the victim money in exchange for her silence.

At the time, Coots was working as an advanced practice registered nurse. Following the charges, he was fired from his job and the Washington State Board of Nursing stripped him of his nursing license.

The Details:

During the hearing, Coots’ defense team claimed that the woman was never pregnant to begin with and therefore his actions did not cause the death of a preborn child, though they also asserted that his actions were “unthinkable” and “completely out of character.”

At a plea hearing, Coots did plead guilty to assault in the second degree with domestic violence, tampering with a witness, and assault in the fourth degree with sexual motivation. This kept the case from going to trial.

Coots was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison.

Wife of Gig Harbor nurse accused of forced abortion threatened victim | FOX 13 Seattle

Why It Matters:

With the abortion pill regimen (which includes both mifepristone and misoprostol) now widely available through mail order and on the internet, stories like this one have become more common.

Without the need for a pregnant woman to have an in-person visit with a physician prior to receiving the abortion pill, predators like Coots can easily access it and then give it to their unwitting victims. As Coots was in a healthcare profession, it is possible he had even easier access to a drug like misoprostol, which is often prescribed for other medical indications. According to the above video, Coots is suspected of prescribing the pills to himself before administering them to his mistress.

Coots must serve just one year in prison for the crime, while the victim and her baby have been forever impacted by his actions.

Go Deeper:

Read more disturbing incidents of abortion pill abuse at Live Action News:

• Man sentenced to 10 years in prison for slipping woman abortion pill

• Man who spiked woman’s drink with abortion pills he obtained by mail gets 12 years in prison

• Man found guilty of lacing woman’s drink with abortion pill after she refused abortion

• Authorities say Houston attorney was caught spiking wife’s drink with abortion drugs

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