Tampa authorities arrested a doctor’s son and charged him with deceiving his pregnant girlfriend into believing the abortion pill she was taking was an antibiotic.
According to a federal arrest affidavit, John Andrew Welden tricked his girlfriend into taking an abortion pill, which resulted in the death of their unborn child.
On Tuesday, Welden, 28, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of the six-week-old fetus, and product tampering. He was denied bail on Wednesday.
Though the 6-week-old fetus is not considered medically viable, the age of the fetus is moot under federal law.
“If someone kills an unborn child while committing a federal crime, it’s considered murder,” Tampa lawyer Todd Foster told ABC News.
According to court documents, Welden’s girlfriend, Remee Lee, 26, was excited upon learning that she was pregnant with Welden’s child. But Welden didn’t share her joy.
“I was never going to do anything but go full term with it, and he didn’t want me to,” explained Remee Lee, 26, who is now Welden’s ex-girlfriend.
When Lee told Welden she was pregnant, Welden sent Lee to see his father, an obstetrician and gynecologist.
The next day, Welden called Lee and told her his father diagnosed her with an infection and that he prescribed the oral antibiotic Amoxicillin to treat the infection.
Authorities say Welden forged his father’s name on a prescription for Cytotec, an abortion pill. He then switched the labels on the bottles of Cytotec and Amoxicillin.
On Easter Sunday, Lee experienced vaginal bleeding and severe abdominal cramping. She went to a local hospital, where she was told her fetus was dead.
Lee said she showed doctors the medications she was taking. But the doctors knew right away that the shape and color of the pills were not consistent with the antibiotic Amoxycillin. Doctors later determined that the pills were Cytotec.
Welden confirmed to Lee that he had given her Cytotec to induce an abortion.
“He came to my house with the pills, his weapon of choice,” Lee said.
“He told me to keep taking them. I was supposed to take three a day for days,” she recalled Welden saying.
Lee told ABC Action News that she did not confirm the diagnosis of infection or the Amoxycillin prescription with Welden’s father because she believed Welden was the “love of her life.”
“He used this pregnancy as my Achilles heel. He knew I wanted to do what is best, so that is why I took [the pills],” Lee said.
Welden’s father was not charged with any wrongdoing.
Lee is suing Welden for punitive damages, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She is seeking a minimum of $15,000.
Welden faces life in prison if convicted of all charges.
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