Robert Kawada, 43, faces criminal charges that include attempted poisoning, battery and assault after he allegedly tricked a woman into taking abortion drugs that he said were iron supplements. Mr Kawada has plead not guilty.
The accused met the alleged victim on a dating app, which led to several dates and three sexual encounters. When the woman found out she was pregnant, Mr Kawada ended the liaison, though he met her again on repeated occasions to give her raspberry leaf cookies and pills that he claimed were vitamins.
While the woman spat out the pills, she ate the cookies, which made her feel unwell – raspberry leaves are potentially dangerous during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Mr Kawanda also faked a call by a nurse advising the woman to take iron supplements. He later gave her what he said were iron pills. She later fell ill, and her unborn baby died.
Subsequent web searches found that Mr Kawanda researched how to obtain abortion pills online.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “This case exposes how abortion pills found online and over the phone lead to abortions that women don’t want. The lengths that some men will go to obtain these deadly poisons should not be underestimated.
“Our own Government’s disastrous DIY home abortion scheme, or pills by post, has made it much easier for men to force victims to obtain and/or take abortion drugs without having to undergo an in-person consultation, a vital safeguard.
“A recent poll commissioned by the BBC found that reported into abortions they didn’t want. Far from protecting women, pills by post enables abusive men to further coerce vulnerable women into aborting their children.
“Coercion is a very threat that the pro-abortion lobby ignores to advance their anti-life narrative, which is harmful both to unborn babies and their mothers.”
