HUMBOLDT COUNTY, NV - A woman previously convicted under a century-old Nevada law against ending a late-term pregnancy through intentional drug use following a 2018 miscarriage has won a $1.6 million settlement from the county where she was convicted, PEOPLE reported.
In April 2018, Patience Rousseau reportedly delivered a stillborn baby she had named Abel. After the stillbirth, Rousseau buried the child’s remains in her backyard and later posted on Facebook, reportedly writing, “I’m so sorry, Abel. I’m sorry I’m a horrible person.”
Rousseau, who was 26 years old at the time, also reportedly wrote on Facebook that she was “so scared n afraid,” and that she “didn’t know what to do.” Not long after the post, police arrived at her Winnemucca home to ask her what she was so “sorry” about, U.S. News & World Report reported. She reportedly told officers at the time, “I’m not allowed to have personal things in my life? I had a miscarriage, okay? A miscarriage.”
Weeks later, Rousseau was arrested and charged with manslaughter after investigators determined the baby had reached approximately 28 to 32 weeks of gestation and evidence suggested Rousseau had tried to intentionally end the pregnancy. Under a 1911 Nevada law, it is illegal to ingest drugs to terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks.
Prosecutors pointed to Rousseau’s prior internet searches for ways to end a pregnancy, and said she reportedly ate large amounts of cinnamon and repeatedly lifted heavy objects. But it was her reported drug use while pregnant, specifically methamphetamine and marijuana, that led to her pleading guilty to manslaughter in April 2019, News 4 reported.
After Rousseau served more than two years behind bars, her new attorney, Laura FitzSimmons, got the conviction overturned by successfully arguing that Rousseau’s previously appointed public defender had provided ineffective assistance of counsel. FitzSimmons also argued that her client’s drug use was a well-established habit that predated the pregnancy loss, that it couldn’t be framed as an intentional effort to end the pregnancy, and that prosecutors could not prove the drug use caused the stillbirth.
After Rousseau’s conviction was vacated, the case was ultimately dismissed with prejudice in 2025, meaning prosecutors can never bring the case against her again.
In February 2026, the state of Nevada agreed to a $100,000 settlement with Rousseau, the Associated Press reported. That amount is a fraction of what Humboldt County has now agreed to pay the 34-year-old, who has since gotten sober and moved to South Dakota with her three children. The county reportedly agreed to pay Rousseau $1.6 million and return the ashes of her stillborn child, Abel.
Despite the large settlement, Rousseau says the outcome is “not fair” compared to the years-long ordeal she went through.
“They fought so much to avoid paying me. I went through so much and so did my children, who are still facing these issues. It’s not fair,” Rousseau told The Nevada Independent.
The demand letter that led to the settlement accused Humboldt County of violating state law, intentionally inflicting emotional distress on Rousseau, and violating her constitutional rights. Attorneys representing Rousseau clarified that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
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