Texas man facing charges after allegedly slipping woman abortion drugs

A man in Spring, Texas, has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury-family violence, after authorities say he secretly ordered an abortion drug and slipped it to the mother of his preborn child without her knowledge, causing the baby's death.

Key Takeaways:

• Jon Reuben Gabriel Demeter was arrested after authorities say he slipped a woman an abortion drug against her will.

• The woman, whose child did not survive the assault, said Demeter tried to convince her to abort on multiple occasions.

• Demeter has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury-family violence. Deputies say those charges may be enhanced pending the results of an investigation.

The Details:

According to a Facebook post from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, deputies were called to a hospital in The Woodlands on February 21, with a report of a woman experiencing a suspicious stillbirth.

The woman told authorities she believed the father of her preborn child, 25-year-old Jon Rueben Gabriel Demeter, had "surreptitiously administered" an abortion drug to her without her knowledge or consent.

The woman said Demeter had repeatedly suggested that she abort their preborn child, even offering to pay for her to travel out of state for an abortion procedure. The woman had refused, expressing her desire to carry her daughter, whom she had named Presley Mae, to term.

After an investigation, deputies determined Demeter had illegally obtained the abortion drug and covertly given it to the woman.

He is being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury-family violence, but the Sheriff's Department says that charge could be enhanced once evidence processing is complete. He is currently being held without bond.

"The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office commends the tireless dedication of our detectives, crime scene investigators, prosecutors, and patrol personnel who worked on this difficult and sensitive case," said Sheriff Wesley Doolittle said in the post. "Our thoughts and prayers remain with the mother and her family as they mourn the loss of Presley Mae."

The Big Picture:

This story is just the latest in a growing number of horrific incidents in which men have illegally ordered abortion drugs, which are now widely available online, and then either forced or secretly given women the drugs, causing the death of the preborn child.

Live Action News has reported on many of these cases.

The incidents have become of such concern that an amicus brief filed this month in the ongoing lawsuit of The State of Louisiana v. FDA focused on the strong correlation between mail-order abortion pills, abortion coercion, and intimate partner violence (IPV).

The Bottom Line:

Though it is not specified in this case which abortion drug was administered to the woman, the abortion pill mifepristone's availability via mail-order and online continues to result in widespread harm to women and their preborn children.