US Man Charged After Tricking Girlfriend Into Taking Abortion Pill To End Pregnancy

A man in Massachusetts has been charged after he tricked his pregnant ex-girlfriend into taking an abortion pill under the guise of iron supplements and vitamins. According to Watertown police, Robert Kawada, 43, secretly gave his ex-girlfriend pills that were intended to end her pregnancy, including misoprostol. As a result, the woman miscarried.

Notably, the two met on a dating app in January and were together for a couple of months. After they broke up in March, the woman told Kawada she was pregnant. Initially, he provided assurances to her citing his experience with his ex-wife's pregnancy and saying that his father was an OB-GYN. However, he wanted to terminate the pregnancy and gave her pills disguised as prenatal supplements. Watertown Police arrested him Friday.

Prosecutor Jacob McCrindle said the woman received calls from someone who claimed to be a nurse from her doctor's office. She told her to take the iron pills she'd gotten from Kawada. The woman later experienced severe cramps and some bleeding, which medical staff confirmed to have been a miscarriage, WBTS reported. 

Court documents show his cell phone search at the time included ''9-week aborted fetus pics" "telephone voice changer" and "chewing Misoprostol."

During the police investigation, Kawada denied the allegation and said that he gave the woman vitamin C and iron supplements he'd ordered from Amazon. However, information collected from his phone indicated he'd called an online pharmacy that sells misoprostol.

Misoprostol is one of two medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of a medication abortion regimen, safe for up to 11 weeks of pregnancy. The drug is prescribed to be taken between 24 to 48 hours after mifepristone. According to CBS News, medication abortion accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States.

He is now facing criminal charges of attempted poisoning, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a pregnant person and assault and battery on a household or family member.