Current:Home > InvestMore women are charged with pregnancy-related crimes since Roe’s end, study finds -StockPrime
More women are charged with pregnancy-related crimes since Roe’s end, study finds
View
Date:2025-04-16 23:47:54
It became more common for authorities to charge women with crimes related to their pregnancies after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, a new study found — even if they’re almost never accused of violating abortion bans.
In the year after the U.S. Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to abortion in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, at least 210 women across the country were charged with crimes related to their pregnancies, according to the report released by Pregnancy Justice, an advocacy organization. That’s the highest number the group has identified over any 12-month period in research projects that have looked back as far as 1973.
Wendy Bach, a professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law and one of the lead researchers on the project, said one of the cases was when a woman delivered a stillborn baby at her home about six or seven months into pregnancy. Bach said that when the woman went to make funeral arrangements, the funeral home alerted authorities and the woman was charged with homicide.
Because of confidentiality provisions in the study, Bach would not reveal more details on the case. But it was one of 22 cases in the study that involved the death of a fetus or infant.
“It’s an environment where pregnancy loss is potentially criminally suspect,” Lourdes Rivera, president of Pregnancy Justice, said in an interview.
The researchers caution that the tally of cases from June 24, 2022, through June 23, 2023, is an undercount, as were earlier versions. As a result, they can’t be positive there wasn’t a stretch between 1973 and 2022 with as many cases as after the Dobbs ruling. During the earlier period, they found more than 1,800 cases — peaking at about 160 in 2015 and 2017.
Most of the cases since Roe’s end include charges of child abuse, neglect or endangerment in which the fetus was listed as the victim. Most involved allegations of substance use during pregnancy, including 133 where it was the only allegation. The group said most of the charges do not require proof that the baby or fetus was actually harmed.
Only one charge in the report alleged violations of an abortion ban — and it was a law that was later overturned. Citing privacy concerns, the researchers did not identify the state where that charge originated. Four others involved abortion-related allegations, including evidence that a woman who was charged had abortion pills.
Bach pointed to the news organization ProPublica’s reporting last week about two Georgia women whose deaths a state commission linked to the state law that bans abortion in most cases after the first six weeks of pregnancy. The family of one of them, Candi Miller, said she was avoiding seeking medical treatment after she took abortion pills for fear of being accused of a crime.
States with abortion bans — including 14 that bar it at all stages of pregnancy and four, such as Georgia, where it’s illegal after about the first six weeks — have exceptions for women who self-manage abortions. But Bach said that people seeking abortion have been charged with other crimes.
“She did not want to seek help because of her fear that she would be prosecuted,” Bach said. “That is a really realistic fear.”
The majority of the cases in the study came from just two states: Alabama with 104 and Oklahoma with 68. The next state was South Carolina, with 10.
Rivera said a common thread of those three states — which were also among the states with the most cases of pregnancy-related charges before the Dobbs ruling — is that their supreme courts have issued opinions recognizing fetuses, embryos or fertilized eggs as having the rights of people.
Several states have laws that give fetuses at least some rights of people, and the concept received broad attention earlier this year when Alabama clinics suspended offering in vitro fertilization after a state Supreme Court ruling recognized embryos as “extrauterine children” in a wrongful death case brought by couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident. Within weeks, the Republicans who control the state government adopted a law to protect IFV providers from legal liability.
“We really need to separate health care from punishment,” Rivera said. “This just has tragic endings and does not properly address the problem. It creates more problems.”
veryGood! (4788)
Related
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Iowa State’s Isaiah Lee, who is accused of betting against Cyclones in a 2021 game, leaves program
- South Carolina state Sen. John Scott, longtime Democratic lawmaker, dies at 69
- Police apologize after Black teen handcuffed in an unfortunate case of 'wrong place, wrong time'
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Those Taylor Swift figurines for sale online aren't from Funko, but fans will pay $250 anyway
- As Maui wildfires death toll nears 100, anger grows
- Billy Porter Calls Out Anna Wintour Over Harry Styles’ Vogue Cover
- Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
- Police seize Nebraska dispensary products for THC testing
Ranking
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Biden administration urges colleges to pursue racial diversity without affirmative action
- Utah man accused of threatening president pointed gun at agents, FBI says
- Northwestern sued again over troubled athletics program. This time it’s the baseball program
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Busy Philipps Reflects on Struggle to Be Diagnosed With ADHD
- Longtime Louisville public radio host Rick Howlett has died at 62
- Silicon Valley's latest hype: Eyeball-scanning silver orbs to confirm you're human
Recommendation
North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
North Korea’s Kim orders sharp increase in missile production, days before US-South Korea drills
Russian fighter jet crashes at Michigan air show; video shows pilot, backseater eject
New Mexico Supreme Court provides guidance on law enforcement authority during traffic stops
DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
How a law associated with mobsters could be central in possible charges against Trump
James McBride's 'Heaven & Earth' is an all-American mix of prejudice and hope
A sweet challenge: New Hampshire's Ice Cream Trail puts dozens of delicious spots on the map