18-year-old Syeisha Johnson was charged with assault inflicting serious bodily injury on an unborn child, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury after allegedly taking the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol to end a pregnancy at 31 weeks in July. Her boyfriend was also arrested and charged with negligent child abuse.

Johnson found out she was pregnant at 20 weeks in June, and then ordered the abortion pills online to be shipped from Virginia. According to the police report: “On July 29, 2026 Ms. Johnson began having abdominal pain and sat down during the day to help with the pain. She sat on the toilet and gave birth to a child.”

Johnson turned 18 in June, meaning she was past the North Carolina requirement for minors to get parental permission for an abortion, however the state bans most abortions after 12 weeks.

Her story comes the same week a recording was released of a call between acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and faith leaders, where Blanche promised that the Trump administration would work to ban mail-order abortion pills nationwide.

  • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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    18 hours ago

    It’s going to be an extremly unpopular opinion, but 31 weeks is way to late for an aborsion.

    This are images of babys in that stage, an ultrasound and an early born.

    Hell, it sucks to find out late at 20 weeks, espeacialy beeing 18 years old. but at that point adoption is the only sensible option in my opinion. Roast me all you want, i’m for woman to make the decision to abort. But not this late in pregnancy. What ever treshold seperates cell clump and human, it’s crossed at that point.

    • PRIMEcavitationfetishist@quokk.au
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      14 hours ago

      Nah. Nah its her body. You can mandate that it be done in a hospital or whatever, but if you really care that much, build an artificial womb. If half the effort spent on punishing people with uteruses were put towards that, it would be old tech.

      Weird how you think AFAB people in this position should be compelled to risk their lives their health etc over harrowing months, and locked in caves forever if they don’t, but paid cops with specialist armor shouldn’t be punished for standing outside and not taking five minutes to stop an activeschool shooter, often killing multiple actual confirmed children.

      Almost like you’re a disingenuous misogynist racist piece of shit, or something.

      Or maybe we should to things that save the lives of children without endangering anyone’s body (in fact making adult bodies statistically safer) by banning large/lifted trucks without a work license, modal shifts away from car use, banning advertising to children, going after social media companies that target them with “ai”, etc? No, you’ve literally never given a single shit about any of that, because it didn’t let you punish women for being sluts? Damn. Crazy.

      • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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        12 hours ago

        Just to steelman your argument here: It is your opinion, that a baby can and should be aborted as long as it is in a womb, regardless of it’s develomental status?

        I will not engage with the things you feel the need to assume about me, neither here nor in your other comment.

        • PRIMEcavitationfetishist@quokk.au
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          11 hours ago

          If a human being grafted themselves to me without informed consent, needing my body to continue living, yeah its fine for me to kill them. I think they even made a pretty good movie about that.

          Not surprising you think a literal child can consent.

          • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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            8 hours ago

            You do relize that the baby had no say in this, yes? It has been placed in this situation with no say.

            The baby never consented to be placed in the womb.

              • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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                9 minutes ago

                Because i am.

                Is it so hard do fathom for you that a stance can be more nuanced than 100 % yes or no, regardless of circumstances?

        • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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          12 hours ago

          Abortion should be accessible. Healthcare should not be limited. Women should have autonomy over their bodies.

            • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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              12 hours ago

              Most women would not choose to abort at 31 weeks if healthcare was accessible.

              You’re asking the wrong question.

              • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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                12 hours ago

                Again, i agree. But the article isn’t about most woman, is it? It’s about one teen that aborted at 31 weeks.

                So, again: Is it you position that a womens right to make decisions about her body is indipendend from the developmental stage a baby is in?

                • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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                  12 hours ago

                  This teenager would have chosen to abort earlier if she could.

                  Yes. There’s very, very few abortions that happen in the third trimester and those are heartbreaking situations usually involving a very much wanted baby. Laws shouldn’t tie doctors hands in those situations either.

                  You can’t separate out the inability to access appropriate healthcare from this case. They are entwined.

                  • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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                    11 hours ago

                    Yeah, i see an abortion for medical reasons or to save the live of the mother. And i agree that doctors should be able to act in such situations without fear of repercussions.

                    Yeah, she should, and it’s wrong that she wasn’t. So you are saying that, because the system didn’t allow her any other path to abortion, you feel such a late abortion was the right call?

                    Cause i would argue that, even if the circumstances were out of her hands and it’s unfair for her, at 31 weeks she was dealing with a fellow human being and should have gone trough with it. I don’t blame her that she didn’t and she shouldn’t be punished for it (it’s not her fault anyway).

    • SirSmoothAES@lemmygrad.ml
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      15 hours ago

      Just because that clump of cells has some semblance of a face doesn’t mean it gets to supersede the rights of the host.

      Moreover, if you judge personhood by how developed a face looks, you might as well post a pic of the host’s face so we can really contrast and compare. I’d say they win that one easily, so pro choice it is.

    • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      Yeah. At 31 weeks this is a problem. Abortion pills are only usable up to 15 weeks. This was not an abortion. This was life-risking behavior putting both parties at risk with no possibility that it could ever work as planned because viability is possible at 24 weeks.

      I’m all kinds of pro-abortion but this was bad.

      • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        12 hours ago

        You’re really trying to pretend that you’re not blaming the pregnant teen with comments like these?

    • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      18 hours ago

      She was 17 years old, found out she was pregnant at 20 weeks, and had to wait until she was legally an adult to do anything. Add in a lack of sex education and what the pills do specifically and you have a tragic case like this.

      If abortion had been a legally viable option for her, this wouldn’t have happened.

      It’s disgusting to post photos like this by the way. It’s not her fault she didn’t have options - it’s the government’s overreach into women’s healthcare that is at fault here.

      Pregnancy and birth are threats to a woman’s life as a reminder.

      • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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        17 hours ago

        At 20 weeks you’re outside the range of an abortion pill. At 31 weeks you are way beyond that. She put her own life in danger doing this. I understand there are complications due to stupid state laws and age requirements and all the rest but this was a bad decision. A criminally bad decision.

        • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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          17 hours ago

          Her life was in danger carrying the pregnancy to term as well.

          This is entirely due to access to abortion being cut off by the state.

          • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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            16 hours ago

            Yes. I totally agree. And the method she opted to fix it was outside the scope for the situation as it was more than twice as long in the pregnancy as the method is safe to use. This was a completely stupid and potentially fatal way to handle the situation.

            We both understand why this happened. We both hate that the nann state made it possible or even inevitable. But we can’t be blind to the incredibly stupid risk she took by using a method that had a real risk of killing her. One wrong and one stupid don’t make a right.

            • PRIMEcavitationfetishist@quokk.au
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              14 hours ago

              When the stupid was inflicted on purpose by the people doing the wrong to back the wrong, it pretty thoroughly absolves the victim. Unless you just like punishing girls.

              Because I need to remind you, this was not a woman. This was a girl. She was a fucking child. Not that it really makes a difference to anyone not looking for a victim to string up.

                  • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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                    14 hours ago

                    I find it very important to phrase my opponent’s arguments in terms they would agree with. You, apparently, have so such issues and will argue with a person you made up instead of the person you are talking with.

                • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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                  14 hours ago

                  What part of giving birth could have killed the teen that you aren’t getting?

                  She had no better options because the government refuses to allow women to access appropriate healthcare.

                  • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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                    14 hours ago

                    I’m not getting it because I never said she should give birth. Not once. I stated I’m in favor of abortion. I disagree with the way she almost killed herself trying to solve this. Learn to read.

            • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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              16 hours ago

              And the method she opted to fix it was outside the scope for the situation as it was more than twice as long in the pregnancy as the method is safe to use.

              Without robust sex education, it’s very likely that this girl didn’t know how mifepristone works, only that it is an abortion pill. Teenagers don’t tend to make great decisions under pressure. She couldn’t legally get the pills at all until she turned 18 years old.

              She would have been able to have a safe abortion if it had been legally available.

              This is entirely on the state in my opinion. Completely and entirely the government’s fault here.

              • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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                16 hours ago

                It sounds like you and I agree on the problem but you are intentionally failing to acknowledge my point about her “solution” being wrong. Which makes this a bad faith conversation not worth continuing.

                • 5318008@lemmy.ml
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                  15 hours ago

                  What would a correct solution have looked like, in your opinion?

                  My opinion is: this should have been a decision involving a doctor, but the state made that impossible. Whether she made a bad decision or not, the state failed first, and I, personally, hold the failure of the state to a higher level of scrutiny than the failure of a pregnant teenager.

                  • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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                    15 hours ago

                    We all agree what got here there. No need to repeat that.

                    The correct solution would have been pretty much anything that didn’t involve taking a drug that wasn’t unsafe for how far along she was. No medical professional would have advised using that method at 31 weeks because they would have lost their license.

                • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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                  15 hours ago

                  Yes, teenagers have poor decision making skills. I am not intentionally failing to acknowledge your point. I think your point doesn’t matter in this case and I’ve spoken on that point a few times now.

                  She would have been able to have an abortion at a much safer time for both her and the fetus if it was accessible.

                  • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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                    15 hours ago

                    That would have been nice. But, as you know, not legally possible.

                    Anyway, you are focused on what started this. We agree. It is unfortunate we couldn’t move past that.

      • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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        17 hours ago

        I agree to most of what you said. But.

        If you arrive at 31 weeks, regardless off how unfair and fucked up the circumstances where thad lead to this point, you shoudn’t abort in my opinion.

        Hell, i know it sucks. I am so fucking sry for the poor girl that has been brought into a situation like this by bigoted assholes that denied her a right to abortion and sex edd to prevent it in the first place.

        But she had an option left. She had the option to go trough with it and give the baby away. And i know that sucks. But at that point, i personally think it would have been the more humane option.

        It’s disgusting to post photos like this by the way. It’s not her fault she didn’t have options - it’s the government’s overreach into women’s healthcare that is at fault here.

        I posted them to show why i think this way, not to shame the poor girl. I don’t blame her, it is, as you pointed out, not her fault.

        • PRIMEcavitationfetishist@quokk.au
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          13 hours ago

          So, I’ve never been pregnant, but you obviously haven’t either. You do not understand or care about the risks and costs associated. You’re just here to punish AFAB people for being too old for you to fuck.

          If you actually cared about the lives of children, you’d be on /fuckcars. You’d be fighting against environmental contaminants that disproportionally kill children. You’d be punishing paid trained equipped cops for not stopping school shooters, you would’ve fucking suicide bombed the fucking uvalde police department for not letting concerned parents try to eave their kids.

          You don’t give a shit about the lives of children. That’s the common thread between all of those things, you see; children die in preventable ways, people nobody can argue are children, because they’re running around putting crap in their mouths and asking stupid questions and learning to read. No you hate women (and nb’s and trans people when you think of then) and want them to suffer for committing a sin.

          I have kind of a headache and I woke up really early, but just for you I’m going to have sex with at least three people tonight. I know at least one of them has a dick and at least one of them has a pussy and its going to be all your fault.

          • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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            12 hours ago

            I’m sorry to hear about your headache. Maybe the sex can help you relax a bit more. You come across as a bit tense.

        • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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          17 hours ago

          Going through with birth is more risky to the mother’s life than you want to acknowledge here.

          She was a teenager.

          • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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            17 hours ago

            That is a good point. I am looking at this from a european perspective and had means no costs and much lower maternal mortality rates. I aknowledge that the situation is complicated by this. It’s just a fucked up situation either way.

            Not as a “got ya” but just fyi, being a teenager of her age is not a risk factor in this case, but lessens the risk.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternal_mortality_in_the_United_States

            Edit: It still is risking a live vs. taking a live tough.

            • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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              16 hours ago

              It has been shown that mothers between ages 18 and 44 who did not complete high school had a 5% increase in maternal mortality versus women who completed high school.[32] By completing primary school, 10% of girls younger than 17 years old would not get pregnant and 2/3 of maternal deaths could be prevented.[33] Secondary education, university schooling, would only further decrease rates of pregnancy and maternal death.

              Of note, higher education still does not improve the racial differences in maternal mortality and is not protective for Black mothers in the way they are for White mothers. It has been found that Black mothers with a college education have greater maternal mortality than White mothers with less than a high school education.[34]

              Young adolescents are at the highest risk of fatal complications of any age group.[35] This high risk can be accounted for by various causes such as the likelihood of adolescents giving birth for the first time compared to women in older age groups.[36] Other factors that also may lead to higher risk among this age group includes lower economic status and education.[37] While adolescents face a higher risk of maternal mortality, a study conducted between 2005 and 2014 found that the rate of maternal mortality was higher among older women.[38] Additionally, another study found that the rate is higher specifically among women aged 30 years or older.[36]

              There are significant racial disparities in maternal deaths within the United States.[42][43][5][4][44]

              In 2023, Asian women had the lowest maternal death rate in the United States, with a death rate of 11 per 100,000. Hispanic women had the second lowest maternal death rate, at 12 per 100,000. White women had a death rate of 14.5 per 100,000. Black women’s maternal death rate was slightly greater than 50 per 100,000.[5]

              From the same link you pulled that chart.

            • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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              17 hours ago

              Women shouldn’t be forced to put their own lives at risk to carry a fetus to term.

              The criminal actions here are the government’s refusal to allow appropriate healthcare access to women.

              • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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                12 hours ago

                I agree. They realy shoudn’t.

                But we are talking about a fetus that is 6 weeks from being born here. By my account, that is a living being.

                Even in most liberal countries you can’t abort past 21 weeks without a medical reason to do so.

                I won’t and wouldn’t force anybody to put their own live at risk. But considering that ending another live is the alternative here, i think it would be the best choice do make in a case like this, in my opinion.

                • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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                  12 hours ago

                  It wasn’t this teenager’s first option to abort at 31 weeks either.

                  Edit: You’re talking past a really big point here. If abortion had been accessible, this teenager wouldn’t have made the choice to abort at 31 weeks. She would have done so right when she found out she was pregnant at 20 weeks. Hell, maybe with better sex education, she would have better prevented this unwanted pregnancy to begin with and no one would have been in this position.

                  But that didn’t happen. And the choice was try to abort or face death and an unwanted child with birth.