Former West Point cadet sued over alleged drugging, forced abortion of ex-girlfriend: 'Horrifying'

Caleb Suh pleaded guilty in June to assault resulting in substantial bodily injury to a dating partner in connection with the March 2022 incident involving the woman, who was also a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at the time. The woman wanted to have the baby, but Suh did not want her to keep the child.

Suh told the judge that he used the woman's identity to set up an online pharmacy account, ordered abortion drugs through the mail, obtained Xanax from a friend to use as a sedative and tricked his girlfriend into drinking what he claimed was a prenatal protein shake. When she fell asleep, Suh inserted the abortion pills into her mouth and vagina.

Victim's Trauma

Suh left the woman alone and incapacitated and ignored her attempts to reach him once she woke up and noticed that she was bleeding, according to the lawsuit. She was then hospitalized.

She's suffered a life-changing event that she is still dealing with and will be dealing with for the rest of her life, her lawyer, Russell Kornblith, told The Associated Press. We hope that by our client coming forward with this lawsuit, it will, at least, ensure that this never happens to anyone else.

Legal Proceedings

Suh is still awaiting sentencing. His sentencing has been postponed until Jan. 21, 2027, at his attorney's request, allowing him to finish the semester at Columbia. Prosecutors did not oppose the delay for Suh's sentencing.

During a court hearing in June, Suh said that he was deeply and immeasurably sorry for my actions and the pain that I have caused. He has also been taking a three-month life skills course for people facing federal charges, his attorney said in a letter to the court.

Academic Continuation

Suh studied at two Ivy League universities since the incident, including one where he began attending classes after his guilty plea. He graduated from Cornell University this year and was enrolled as a graduate student at Columbia University when the woman filed a lawsuit Oct. 28.

Suh transferred to Cornell during the 2023-2024 school year. The university said in a statement last week that he answered no on an application when asked if he had been found responsible for a disciplinary violation at any previous institution. In September, Suh started a master's program at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

Policy Debate

Regardless of one's position on abortion, it is not good medicine to allow an abortion drug to be shipped across the country to a dorm room or a home without a woman ever having talked to a doctor, Hawley said. The defendant in this case impersonated his girlfriend, had those drugs shipped and then assaulted her with them.

Hawley referred to Alliance Defending Freedom's lawsuit challenging the Food and Drug Administration's 2023 decision to remove the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone. However, the assault occurred in March 2022, before the FDA's 2023 decision. The agency had already announced in April 2021 that it would temporarily stop enforcing the in-person dispensing requirement during the COVID-19 public health emergency.