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A state judge in Georgia on Monday set a bail payment at just $1 for a woman who was charged with murder earlier this month after she took abortion pills to end a pregnancy — a charge about which Judge Steven G. Blackerby of State Superior Court expressed extreme skepticism.

“I think that charge is extremely problematic,” Blackerby said during a hearing that the woman, Alexia Moore, attended virtually. “That is going to be a hard charge to convict upon.”

District Attorney Keith Higgins, who is overseeing the case against Moore, also did not appear convinced that the 31-year-old should be imprisoned for the medication abortion she had last December. He told the judge that “whatever bond the defendant can make that will allow her to get out of jail is appropriate,” and noted that police in Kingsland, Georgia had brought charges against Moore without his office’s support.

Higgins said he was not ready to drop the murder charge altogether, but said he was also not prepared to present the case to a grand jury.

Moore had been in jail for about two weeks when the hearing took place. Investigators in Kingsland accused her of “unlawfully and with malice aforethought [causing] the death of Baby Girl Moore.” In addition to malice murder they charged her with possession of a controlled substance and a dangerous drug.

Georgia Woman Charged With Murder After Attempted Abortion

She was rushed to Southeast Georgia Health Center on December 30 after experiencing severe abdominal pain. Court records showed Moore told the medical staff she had taken about eight pills of misoprostol, a pill........

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