DA drops self-abortion charges against NYC woman

(CBS) NEW YORK - Prosecutors in Manhattan have decided to drop self-abortion charges against a 20-year-old woman whose unborn fetus was found wrapped in plastic in a garbage bin.

Yaribely Almonte was charged with the crime last month after a building superintendent sorting recyclables found the fetus - which was described by the New York Times as being about six or seven inches long - outside Almonte's apartment building.

According to CBS New York, the Manhattan district attorney's office is still investigating the case, but declined to elaborate. According to the state Criminal Justice Services Division, since 1980 only four people had been charged with self-abortion, a misdemeanor charge.

New York law makes it a crime for a woman to induce her own miscarriage when she's more than 24 weeks pregnant. The law also states an abortion may only be performed on a fetus older than 24 weeks if the procedure is necessary to save the woman's life.

Authorities had previously said they were looking into whether Almonte drank some sort of herbal concoction to induce an abortion.

More on CrimesiderDecember 2, 2011 - NY woman is charged with self-abortion after her fetus is found in trash