Tag: Pregnancy Criminalization

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.

When Any Birth Outcome Can Be a Criminal One

Anti-abortion and right-wing prosecutors and law enforcement agencies are warping child neglect, abuse and endangerment statutes to criminalize behavior during and after pregnancy.

Dobbs “will further accelerate an existing crisis, putting anyone who is pregnant or has the capacity to become pregnant at even greater risk of arrest, prosecution, and conviction,” according to a new report from Pregnancy Justice.

Republicans Want to Control Your Pregnancy, Not Just Your Abortion

A new Pregnancy Justice report illustrates an alarming rise in pregnancy criminalization, increasing three-fold over the past 16 years. The report finds that just five Southern states are largely responsible for this increase in arrests.

Despite the major concerns brought forth in the report, feminist organizers are not backing down. Instead, they see the findings as “a call to action, and anyone working to achieve greater bodily autonomy ought to heed that call.”

Post-Roe America Will Lead to Increased Criminalization of Pregnant Women. Here’s How to Protect Them

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Since the overturn of Roe, states now have further jurisdiction to prosecute women in cases of illegal abortions, miscarriages and many other instances of so-called child abuse—something they’ve been doing for years, especially to low-income women and women of color.

National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) has launched a resource guide for prosecutors, police, healthcare providers and welfare workers alike in protecting pregnant women. “Now is not the time to give up,” said NAPW. “The opportunities for potential allyship, collaboration and solidarity are numerous.”