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Weaponizing the Law to Punish People for Miscarriage

A legal system that recognizes fetal personhood punishes people for their pregnancy outcomes and strips them of their rights in the name of protecting the fetus. One striking recent example comes from Texas, where the state Supreme Court recently ruled that Kate Cox could not have an emergency, life-saving abortion. And in October, an Ohio woman was charged with a felony after her miscarriage.

Miscarriage is normal. Subjecting people who have miscarriages to criminal punishment is needlessly cruel, counterproductive, and relies on a legal understanding that pregnant people are a lesser class of person.

Texas’ SB 31 Could Loosen the State’s Abortion Ban in Life-Threatening Cases. Doctors Say It’s Still Not Enough.

Will a new bill in Texas stop the shocking number of deaths of pregnant women in the Lone Star State? That’s the hope of both Democratic and Republican supporters of SB 31, also known as the Life of the Mother Act. The bill is headed to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott for signature and there is a strong expectation that he will sign it.

The goal of SB 31, which gathered broad bipartisan support, is to finally respond to the pressure to provide clarity about legal medical exceptions, allowing Texas doctors to perform lifesaving abortions and D&C (dilation and curettage) procedures on pregnant and miscarrying women in need of medical care. Supporters say they believe SB 31 will save the lives of pregnant women—yet many doctors still report uncertainty, and reproductive freedom advocates say the bill does not go far enough to address the loss of bodily autonomy suffered by women in the state.

Despite Pleas From Women and Doctors, Texas May Implement Even More Abortion Restrictions

Despite mounting evidence that Texas’ abortion bans are endangering women’s lives, Republican lawmakers are pushing for even stricter restrictions, including limits on essential abortion medications.

Legal challenges have failed to loosen the state’s near-total ban, leaving doctors fearful of prosecution and women suffering life-threatening complications. Cases like Amanda Zurawski’s near-fatal sepsis and Samantha Casiano’s forced pregnancy highlight the devastating impact of the law, yet the Texas Supreme Court has refused to clarify its vague medical exceptions. With no legal or citizen-led ballot initiatives available, advocates say the only path to restoring abortion rights in Texas is to vote out antiabortion legislators.

Texas’ Abortion Ban Has OB-GYNs Working in an Environment of ‘Extreme Fear’

Texas OB-GYNs describe practicing in an environment of fear under the state’s extreme abortion bans, which have led to maternal deaths, delayed care and a mass exodus of doctors. Physicians say they are forced to wait until pregnancy complications become life-threatening before providing care, fearing legal repercussions.

With experienced OB-GYNs leaving and fewer medical students planning to stay, the future of reproductive healthcare in Texas is at risk.

‘We’ve Got to Stop This’: Doctors Sound Alarm as Miscarrying Women Die Under Texas Abortion Ban

The Texas abortion ban’s harsh penalties are “terrifying” doctors, leading to women dying from miscarriages.

“It’s like a knife straight to your stomach,” said Dr. Todd Ivey, a Houston-based OB-GYN at an academic hospital, about a third woman dying in the state during a miscarriage.

Five doctors who provide reproductive healthcare in Texas on why they believe three healthy young women died—and their advice about how other pregnant Texans can do their best to survive a miscarriage in the state.

Activist Olivia Julianna Talks Repro Rights and Young Women’s Futures on Ms. Magazine’s New Gen Z Podcast

A fair amount of news coverage this election cycle has focused on the Gen Z vote, and for good reason. Besides being the most diverse generation in American history, Generation Z—born between the mid 1990s and the early 2010s—has grown up in a turbulent time in this country, from the rise of school shootings to the COVID-19 pandemic to the first (and soon to be second) Trump presidency and legislative attacks on reproductive freedom.

In The Z Factor’s third episode, host Anoushka Chander interviewed 21-year-old Olivia Julianna, who has advocated for abortion in her home state of Texas. On the podcast, she and Chander delved into the unique worries of young women in America right now and Julianna’s own advocacy work.

Gen Z Women Are Ready To Fight (with Olivia Julianna)

Meet Anoushka Chander Anoushka Chander is a senior at Harvard College from Washington, D.C. studying Social Studies and African American Studies with a focus on women’s rights, racial justice, and the law. She works as an Assistant Producer and intern at Ms. Studios at Ms. Magazine, where she hosts The Z Factor: Gen Z’s Voice […]

‘A Thousand Miles for Care’: Vanessa Carlton and Center for Reproductive Rights Spotlight the Women Forced to Travel for Abortion Care

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, more than 20 states have completely banned or severely restricted abortion. In 2023 alone, over 171,000 women were forced to travel out of state—in some cases, several states away—to have an abortion. The Center for Reproductive Rights unveiled a national video campaign last week highlighting the distances women have been forced to travel for abortion care after their own states criminalized the procedure.

Women on abortion road trips all listen to Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” … in the car, on the bus, on the highway, at the gas station; the song becomes part of a communal soundtrack as the women cross state lines for abortion care. They all end up in the same medical waiting room.