A man has been charged with attempted murder after he allegedly tried to secretly give his girlfriend an abortion drug during foreplay.

Joshua Woodward, 40, a former restauranteur in Manhattan, faced a Los Angeles Court yesterday, where he pleaded not guilty to four counts of attempted murder, the New York Daily News reported.

Prosecutors claim he used misoprostol, a drug known to induce labor or cause early-stage abortions, to terminate his girlfriend's pregnancy three years ago.

The woman, 42, suffered a miscarriage in October 2009 after one of the meetings with Woodward.

An affidivat obtained by the newspaper alleged the couple split after the woman learned she was pregnant because he did not want her to keep the baby.

They later resumed an intimate relationship, but on multiple occasions, Woodward dipped his hand into his backpack before touching her sexually, the police affidavit states.

Following one of the encounters in 2009, the woman suffered severe cramping and miscarried.

She told police she later discovered a white powdery substance in her underwear and thought it might be connected to the incident. Authorities identified the substance as misoprostol, the court was told.

The Los Angeles Times said the four charges of attempted murder involve efforts to kill the fetus between September 15, 2009, and October 25, 2009, according to prosecutors.

Woodward's attorney, Mark Werksman, said there is no case against his client, and the charges were an attempt to turn "an unfortunate natural miscarriage of a 13-week-old fetus into a ghoulish attempted murder case."

"The evidence marshaled against him is so weak and speculative as to be nonexistent."

Joshua Woodward, 40, was a former investor of Los Angeles and Miami restaurants, including the old Table 8.

If convicted, Woodward, who now lives in Florida, faces up to life in prison.