Pennsylvania Mother Receives Jail Time for Giving 16-Year-Old Daughter Abortion Pill

A mother in Pennsylvania has received jail time for giving her 16-year-old daughter abortion pills. 

Jennifer Ann Whalen, bought the abortion-inducing drugs misoprostol and mifepristone online from a company in Europe for $45. She then gave them to her pregnant daughter in 2012 in lieu of taking the 16-year-old to an abortion clinic for a doctor to perform the procedure. 

The drugs caused the 16-year-old to experience bleeding and cramping. The teen was then treated at Geisinger Medical Center for “an incomplete abortion and a urinary tract infection” according to medical records. 

Whalen said that she did not have $500 to pay for her daughter's abortion and the closest clinic was 74 miles away. She maintains that she was unaware a prescription was required to obtain the drugs. 

Montour County Court of Common Pleas Judge Gary Norton issues Whalen a prison sentence of 12 to 18 months for the felony of performing an abortion without a doctor’s license. Whalen was also fined $1,000 and assigned 40 hours of community service upon her release from jail. 

The crime could have carried a top sentence of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine. 

Publication date: September 9, 2014