Manuela and her family
Pregnancy Justice, working with the Reproductive Justice Clinic at NYU School of Law, submitted an amicus curiae brief in the case of Manuela and her family to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In February 2008, a woman identified as Manuela went to a hospital in El Salvador after experiencing an obstetric emergency at home.
Arkansas v. Anne Bynum
Pregnancy Justice represented Anne Bynum as counsel on her successful direct criminal appeal. In Arkansas, local law enforcement alleged that Ms. Bynum took misoprostol pills to induce an abortion (although in fact she planned to deliver the baby, and had an adoption plan in place) . Her pregnancy ended in a stillbirth late at night while she was in her home . Following the stillbirth, she safeguarded the remains and slept for several hours before helping to get her son ready and off to school.
Commonwealth of Virginia v. Michelle Roberts
In March 2017 the state of Virginia indicted Michelle Roberts for the felony charge of “producing an abortion or miscarriage.” In early 2016 the Chesterfield, Virginia police department obtained a search warrant and found fetal remains buried in Ms. Roberts’s back yard.
November 15, 2018
Click here to access the full article: "The War On Drugs And The War On Abortion: Some Initial Thoughts On The Connections, Intersections And The Effects" by Lynn M. Paltrow, published in Southern University Law Review [Vol. 28.3, 2001, p. 201].
"Pregnant Drug Users, Fetal Persons, and The Threat to Roe v. Wade" by Lynn M. Paltrow
November 15, 2018
Click here to access the full article: "Pregnant Drug Users, Fetal Persons, and The Threat to Roe v. Wade" by Lynn M. Paltrow, published in Albany Law Review [Vol.
On September, 13, 2018, prosecutors in Chesterfield County, Virginia finally dropped the criminal charge of "producing an abortion," a class 4 felony, filed against Michelle Roberts. Almost three years ago Ms. Roberts had experienced a stillbirth at home and placed the fetal remains in the ground behind her house.
Roe v. Wade protects more than abortion. If fertilized eggs and fetuses are recognized as separate people, women lose the right to terminate pregnancy, but also will be open to criminal prosecution, child abuse allegations, and other harsh interventions when they remain pregnant and go to term.
Pregnancy Justice and NYU Law School's Reproductive Justice Clinic, along with more than twenty leading international human rights and public health experts, submitted an amicus (friend of the court) brief to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the "Commission") in support of Manuela, a woman who died in prison after being convicted under El Salvador's total abortion ban.
In Nevada, Pregnancy Justice helped to get a charge of "felony drug use" against a pregnant woman dismissed. The charge was based upon an unconfirmed clinical drug screen result that was performed for the purpose of medical treatment being provided to a pregnant woman in the hospital.
In long-awaited court action, all charges were finally dismissed against Kenlissia Jones, the African-American Georgia woman who had been arrested based on the claim that she had used medication she obtained online to terminate a pregnancy. Pregnancy Justice, a national nonprofit legal advocacy organization, provided substantial legal assistance to Ms. Jones and her criminal defense lawyer.
