Hundreds Of Us Women Charged With Pregnancy-related Crimes Since Fall Of Roe

In nan first 2 years aft nan US ultimate tribunal overturned Roe v Wade, prosecutors successful 16 states charged much than 400 group pinch pregnancy-related crimes, caller investigation released connected Tuesday found.

Of nan 412 cases tracked by Pregnancy Justice, nan immense mostly took spot successful nan US south, targeted low-income women and progressive allegations that women collapsed laws against kid abuse, endangerment aliases neglect, according to nan research, which was compiled by nan reproductive justness group. About 300 prosecutions took spot successful Alabama and Oklahoma. In 16 cases, rule enforcement charged women pinch homicide.

Because location is nary nationalist database of US apprehension aliases tribunal records, nan group believes nan tally is apt to beryllium an undercount. In a study released successful September 2024, Pregnancy Justice said it had recorded 210 pregnancy-related prosecutions successful nan first twelvemonth aft Roe fell – nan highest number ever recorded astatine that time. Pregnancy Justice is now devoting much resources to unearthing records of pregnancy-related prosecutions, truthful nan group can’t opportunity for judge whether these prosecutions are connected nan emergence post-Roe aliases whether they are simply search them much closely.

Nearly 400 of nan cases included successful nan caller study progressive allegations of constituent usage during pregnancy. In an illustration described to nan Guardian, aft 1 female gave birth, nan infirmary tested her umbilical cords for drugs. When nan trial came backmost affirmative for marijuana, nan female was arrested for felony kid neglect, moreover though she had a aesculapian marijuana card.

The laws utilized successful astir of these prosecutions, Pregnancy Justice pointed out, are typically meant to protect children, not fetuses. By prosecuting pregnant women nether them, nan group says, states are cementing nan ineligible doctrine of “fetal personhood”, which seeks to assistance embryos and fetuses afloat ineligible authorities and protections – sometimes astatine nan costs of nan authorities of nan female carrying them. Alabama and Oklahoma are some hubs for nan increasing fetal personhood movement.

“That is nan eventual extremity of nan anti-abortion movement,” said Dana Sussman, elder vice president astatine Pregnancy Justice, which scoured tribunal and constabulary records to find nan cases. “It wasn’t conscionable to overturn Roe. It is to found afloat personhood, afloat authorities for embryos and fetuses.”

Sussman said a number of women person faced criminal consequences for taking substances that were ineligible aliases prescribed to them. For that reason, Donald Trump’s declare past week that pregnant women who return Tylenol whitethorn springiness their children autism, raised alarms. Scientific investigation does not support this claim.

“It’s a cleanable large wind of each of nan things that we activity on: stigmatizing pregnant group for not being cleanable pregnant people, blaming them for their perceived failures, and relying connected misinformation and junk subject to create a panic erstwhile location shouldn’t beryllium 1 aliases isn’t 1 – while besides expanding surveillance successful nan constabulary authorities to show and perchance criminalize group erstwhile they don’t erstwhile they don’t meet these intolerable ideals,” Sussman said.

Only 31 of nan cases documented by Pregnancy Justice included a stillbirth aliases miscarriage, while almost 300 of nan cases led to a unrecorded birth.

A female whose lawsuit was included successful nan Pregnancy Justice study reportedly didn’t recognize she was pregnant until she started to consciousness aggravated symptom successful her stomach. The woman, a caller migrant to nan US, suspected that she had nutrient poisoning and decided to thrust herself to nan hospital.

Before she could get successful nan car, however, nan female started to springiness birth. She yet delivered what constabulary records listed arsenic a stillbirth. Pregnancy Justice did not factcheck nan cases successful nan study and could not opportunity whether nan fetus was past 20 weeks of pregnancy, aft which nan word stillbirth is used. After constabulary recovered nan remains, nan female was charged pinch maltreatment of a corpse.

The study indicates location are acold much cases of miscarriage criminalization than person made nationalist headlines. In 1 wide covered lawsuit in late 2023, constabulary charged a Ohio female pinch felony maltreatment of a corpse aft she miscarried into a toilet. In another, earlier this year, a Georgia woman who had been recovered bleeding and unconscious aft a miscarriage faced 1 count of concealing nan decease of different person, and 1 count of throwing distant aliases abandonment of a dormant body. The charges against some women were yet dropped.

Nine cases discovered by Pregnancy Justice progressive allegations that women had considered abortions, specified arsenic ordering abortion pills aliases looking for accusation astir abortion online. Only 1 female successful those cases was charged pinch violating a criminal abortion ban, apt because it is ineligible successful astir states to “self-manage” one’s ain abortion. US abortion bans thin to penalize providers and group who thief abortion patients, not nan patients themselves.

In 2025, lawmakers successful astatine slightest 12 states – including Alabama and Oklahoma – introduced authorities that would dainty fetuses arsenic people, which would time off women who person abortions susceptible to being charged pinch homicide. In respective of those states, that complaint would transportation nan decease penalty.

“What our activity has proven is that, unfortunately, thing is imaginable erstwhile it comes to policing pregnancy,” Sussman said.