More than 200 pregnant women have faced criminal charges for conduct associated with their pregnancy since the US Supreme Court abolished the constitutional right to an abortion, a report showed.
Researchers for the nonprofit organization Pregnancy Justice, which advocates for the rights of pregnant people, recorded 210 cases of women being charged for pregnancy-related conduct in at least 12 states. The researchers focused specifically on cases filed from June 24, 2022, to June 23, 2022. That was the first year after the Supreme Court overturned the Dobbs v. Jackson decision.
"The report shows how pregnant people are really under increased surveillance in all kinds of ways, in particular when there's a pregnancy loss," co-author Wendy Bach told Salon.
What Type of Charges Were Documented?
In the majority of the cases documented in the report, individuals were charged with alleged drug use during pregnancy. In five cases, the defendants had a medical marijuana card, which meant they were charged for taking legal medication.
Many of the cases also accused pregnant people of some form of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment.
It was noted that, in 86% of these cases, the prosecutors were not required to find any evidence of harm to the fetus. The women were charged with a perceived risk of harm. Moreover, the report said 22 women were criminalized after experiencing pregnancy loss.
In one such case, a 22-year-old woman who suffered a miscarriage was charged with murder/homicide by child abuse---a crime punishable by 20 years to life in prison. The woman was put behind bars where she spent three weeks. She was later put on 13 months of house arrests before being cleared by a grand jury this August, according to KFF Health News.
Criminal Charges Against Pregnant Women
The vast majority of pregnant women who were charged in the one-year period were low-income individuals. By race, 68% of the people with criminal charges were white. In comparison, 14% were Black individuals, 6% were Indigenous women, and 4% were Latinx.
A majority of the prosecutions were in states with strict abortion laws, including Alabama, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.
Apart from the increase in criminal charges against pregnant women, the report also highlighted a troubling trend where pregnant individuals were seemingly kept under surveillance. Many had been prosecuted based on evidence officials collected during their medical treatment. These were often done without the patient's consent.
