LANCASTER – A Lancaster County woman charged with endangering her teenage daughter by providing her abortion drugs against medical instructions and then concealing the newborn baby’s corpse after the at-home abortion will have her case proceed to county court after waiving a preliminary hearing. 50-year-old Shannon Jones of East Donegal Township faces charges of endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors, and conspiracy to conceal the death of a child. Jones is accused of endangering her then-17-year-old daughter by purchasing abortion medication online for her daughter’s use without medical supervision in May 2024. The two buried the baby boy’s body at their home in the 100 block of Village Square Drive to conceal the pregnancy and birth from Jones’ husband and others. Abortion medication is not approved for use beyond the tenth week of pregnancy due to the extreme risks it poses to the mother. A local certified registered nurse practitioner told police that taking abortion medication past 20 weeks of pregnancy would have placed the daughter in “grave danger, especially outside a hospital setting.” Jones’ daughter was estimated to be about 20 weeks pregnant at the time. Jones’ now-18-year-old daughter was separately charged in the juvenile system with concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse. Jones is currently free after being released on her own recognizance in a preliminary arraignment in June.
SHANNON JONES