Police are using DNA testing to track down a fetus’s mother

Monday afternoon, workers at a treatment plant in Augusta, Georgia found something unusual traveling through the city’s wastewater. A mass of fetal remains had lodged in a piece of equipment, apparently flushed down a drain somewhere within city limits. City coroner Mark Bowen identified the remains as roughly 20 weeks into pregnancy, halfway through the second trimester. That also placed the remains right on the lip of Georgia’s abortion law, which outlaws abortions after 20 weeks.

Faced with unidentified remains, Bowen took an unusual step, sending the remains to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for a full autopsy and DNA testing. If successful, the effort could identify the mother and reveal new details about why her pregnancy failed, a novel use of DNA analysis that could have a significant impact on how police investigate abortion cases nationwide.

Despite the legal implications, Bowen insists he isn’t thinking of the search in criminal terms. “My intention is to put the mother and fetus together, and make sure the mother’s okay,” he told The Verge. “I just want to make sure she...