In the year after the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, more than 200 pregnant women faced criminal charges for conduct associated with their pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth, according to a new report.
The report was produced by Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of pregnant people, including the right to abortion. Researchers in multiple states documented 210 cases of women being charged for pregnancy-related conduct in 12 states from June 24, 2022, to June 23, 2023, the first year after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, throwing the issue to the states.
The majority of charges alleged substance use during pregnancy; in two-thirds of cases, it was the only allegation made against the defendant. Six states — Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas — accounted for the majority of cases documented by researchers.
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The new report utilizes improved data collection, making comparisons with previous versions difficult. But “what we found was even more of an acceleration in pregnancy criminalization as compared to before” the Supreme Court’s ruling, said Lourdes Rivera, president of Pregnancy Justice. Rivera said she thinks that in states with abortion bans or new restrictions, there is more scrutiny of pregnancy loss.
However, almost none of the prosecutions documented by researchers were brought under state abortion laws. Instead, researchers found that law enforcement most often charged pregnant women with crimes such as child neglect or endangerment, interpreting the definition of “child” to include a fetus. In doing so, authorities relied on a legal concept called fetal personhood— the idea that a fetus, embryo or fertilized egg has the same legal rights as a person who has been born.
“If we focus only on abortion laws, we miss a crucial part of the picture in the fact that pregnant individuals are being criminalized for allegedly endangering their own pregnancies, for pregnancy loss and, in some cases, for conduct related to abortion,” Rivera said. “What’s driving …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
