Arizona AG's office: Woman faked cancer to get an abortion


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PHOENIX (AP) — Charges have been filed against a woman accused of faking cancer in 2010 to get Arizona to pay for her late-term abortion, state prosecutors said Tuesday.

Chalice Renee Zeitner, 29, was arrested Friday in Columbia County, Georgia, where she was living under a false name.

It was unclear Tuesday if Zeitner has a lawyer yet and when she could be extradited to Phoenix.

The Arizona attorney general's office said Zeitner is accused of felony charges of theft, fraudulent schemes and artifices, forgery and taking the identity of another person or entity.

Prosecutors allege Zeitner told her obstetrician in March 2010 that she had cancer and her pregnancy put her life in further danger.

Zeitner allegedly presented information to the doctor that she had stage 4 sarcoma and was scheduled to immediately resume treatment in Boston, which would include the removal of tumors in her abdomen and lower spinal area.

Records show her pregnancy was terminated at a Phoenix hospital on April 8, 2010.

Zeitner was enrolled in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System and had her costs associated with the abortion paid for by the state, according to prosecutors.

AHCCCS will only cover pregnancy terminations under limited circumstances, including whether the mother's life is endangered.

After the pregnancy was terminated, authorities said information was obtained that indicated Zeitner falsified medical documents purporting that she had cancer.

They said the physician who Zeitner listed as the one treating her for cancer was contacted and indicated that he had never treated Zeitner or even met her.

Charges were filed against Zeitner after a joint investigation by the FBI, the Arizona attorney general's office and the office of the inspector general within AHCCCS.

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