Justin Banta has been charged with capital murder for allegedly drugging his pregnant girlfriend with abortion pills without her knowledge or consent. The 38-year-old is accused of secretly administering abortion-inducing drugs to his girlfriend, who was six weeks pregnant and had explicitly expressed her desire to keep the baby. What does this case reveal about the dangers of abortion pills?
DOJ Official Charged in Shocking Abortion Pill Case
Justin Banta, a 38-year-old Department of Justice official in Texas, faces charges of capital murder and tampering with physical evidence after allegedly secretly administering abortion drugs to his pregnant girlfriend without her knowledge. Surveillance footage reportedly shows Banta pouring an unknown substance into a drink and stirring it before giving it to the woman, along with cookies, during a meeting at a coffee shop on October 17, 2024.
According to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, the woman had just received confirmation from her doctor that her six-week-old unborn child was healthy with “a strong heartbeat” before meeting with Banta. During their meeting, she explicitly expressed her desire to keep the baby, while Banta, who was reportedly married, had previously told his wife about the pregnancy and expressed his desire for his girlfriend to have an abortion.
A DOJ IT employee faces capital murder charges after allegedly putting abortion-inducing drugs into her drink without her knowledge and then activating a remote reset on his confiscated phone to delete the evidence. This incident happened in Texas.https://t.co/O9sB9fgrMX
— Robbie Mouton (@mcgmouton57) June 10, 2025
Miscarriage and Investigation Details
The day following the coffee shop meeting, the victim began experiencing extreme fatigue and heavy bleeding, prompting her to visit the emergency room. Medical records confirmed she lost her baby on October 19, which investigators believe resulted from the abortion-inducing drugs mifepristone and misoprostol that authorities later discovered in the cookies given to her.
Law enforcement officials obtained evidence indicating Banta had ordered the abortion drugs online before the meeting. Following a months-long investigation involving multiple agencies, including the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Rangers, and FBI, Banta was arrested on June 6, 2025, and booked into Parker County Jail.
According to a Fox News report citing police, a Justice Department employee has been charged with capital murder after allegedly putting an abortion drug into his pregnant girlfriend’s drink without her knowledge, causing her to lose the baby.
Image: Parker County Sheriff's… pic.twitter.com/pLHwMcXfHd
— ActionForLife (@actionforlifeFL) June 11, 2025
Legal Proceedings and Defense Response
Banta faces serious legal consequences under Texas law, which has some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the nation following legislation enacted in 2021 and 2022. Texas law bans most abortions except in dire medical circumstances and includes civil and criminal penalties for performing abortions, with this case taking the unusual approach of applying capital murder charges in connection with terminating a pregnancy without the mother’s consent.
Banta’s attorney, Michael Heiskell, has strongly denied the allegations, stating, “These charges that have been alleged by the investigative agencies and the officers are purely fictional at this point.” Authorities have also charged Banta with tampering with evidence after he allegedly remotely accessed his phone to erase information after it was confiscated by police, potentially destroying what investigators described as “crucial evidence relating to the case.”
The Department of Justice has not yet issued any comment regarding the case against their employee. Banta was released on bond the same day he was arrested and maintains his innocence, with his defense attributing the situation to a relationship that ended badly.