Pregnant Woman’s Ex-Husband Accused Of Botched Abortion

A man has been arrested for attempting to perform an abortion on his former wife, who was subsequently hospitalized because of complications, police said.

Jerry Antonio Omer, 47, of Bellevue, was arrested in that Seattle suburb Friday morning, police said in a news release.

He was returned to Cowlitz County to face charges of unauthorized abortion and third-degree assault, then was released later in the day after posting $3,000 bail, a jail supervisor said.

Investigators gave the following account: When Omer’s 29-year-old ex-wife told him she was pregnant and wanted an abortion, he said he could perform the operation himself, although he had no medical training.

On March 12, he attempted to abort the fetus with a wire apparatus, which became stuck inside the woman. Omer then left town and the woman went to St. John Medical Center, where she was hospitalized for more than 24 hours and then released.

It was unclear from police reports how long the woman had been pregnant or whether the fetus survived.