How the Criminal-Justice System Is Targeting Pregnant People
New York Magazine, September 19, 2023: How the Criminal-Justice System Is Targeting Pregnant People
“Three years ago, 19-year-old M.R. was arrested after suffering a miscarriage between 15 and 17 weeks of pregnancy. While seeking medical help, the Oklahoma resident told hospital staff that she had recently used methamphetamine and marijuana. The medical examiner in the case did not identify the use of these substances as the cause of the miscarriage; instead, the examiner cited M.R.’s drug use as one factor in addition to several other conditions — including a congenital abnormality, placental abruption, and bacterial infection — that could have led to the pregnancy loss. Still, M.R. was charged with first-degree manslaughter, convicted in October 2021, and sentenced to four years in state prison. She chose not to appeal her case out of concern it could lead to a life sentence.
“M.R.’s case is one of nearly 1,400 cases involving pregnant people who were investigated, arrested, or prosecuted between January 2006 and June 23, 2022, the day before Roe v. Wade was overturned, according to a new report by the legal advocacy group Pregnancy Justice. The timeline, charges, and sentencing of M.R. as described in the report match the case of Brittney Poolaw, a member of the Comanche Nation who was convicted of manslaughter after a miscarriage. The number of cases represents an alarming increase compared to the group’s previous 2013 study, which found 413 similar cases between 1973 and 2005. Very few cases outlined in the report were connected to abortion; many, like Poolaw’s, instead focused on allegations of substance use during pregnancy, even when two out of three cases involved a live birth with no mention of negative health outcomes for the infant.
“‘What’s being created is a situation where any adverse pregnancy outcome is a potential criminal scene to be investigated,’ Lourdes Rivera, Pregnancy Justice’s president, tells me. ‘And the people who are going to be the targets of this are people who have the least resources, who can’t afford a lawyer.’”
Additional reading:
The New York Times, September 22, 2023: Mother Who Gave Abortion Pills to Teen Daughter Gets 2 Years in Prison
The Texas Tribune, August 11, 2023: A prison guard says she was forced to stay at her post during labor pains. Texas is fighting compensation for her stillbirth.
The New York Times, July 1, 2022: Inside the Extreme Effort to Punish Women for Abortion
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, December 2020: Opposition to Criminalization of Individuals During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period
