Hong Kong police have arrested 11 domestic workers for allegedly selling illegal abortion pills or performing abortions unlawfully after one of the suspects was believed to have killed a fetus older than the legal limit of 24 weeks of pregnancy.
While police said on Friday that they believed the helpers were not operating as a crime syndicate, they warned that it was a criminal offence in Hong Kong to administer pharmaceutical drugs to perform abortions illegally.
The saga came to light on June 2 when Yuen Long police received a report that a 39-year-old domestic helper had collapsed at her employer’s home in Tin Shui Wai, northwestern New Territories.
“On arrival, ambulance personnel discovered a fetus in a laundry basket beside the helper’s bed. The fetus was about 35cm [13.8 inches] in length, with no sign of life,” said Inspector Lam Ho-yin of Yuen Long police district crime squad.
The fetus was subsequently certified dead, he said.
Lam added that a search of the woman’s room had uncovered a pregnancy test kit with a positive result and the packaging for suspected abortion pills.
