This fact sheet provides background information about Wisconsin’s Act 292, colloquially known as the “Unborn Child Protection Act” or the “Cocaine Mom Law.” We call it Act 292 because the Act harms both children and fetuses—it does not protect them—and the previously-used term “cocaine mom” elicits a false, slanderous, and racist trope about people who consumed cocaine during pregnancy, which we reject.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 9, 2022.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Mary McNamara of Swanson & McNamara LLP, Mary@smllp.law; Pregnancy Justice, media@advocatesforpregnantwomen.org; and ACLU of Northern California, press@aclunc.org

After four years in prison, Adora Perez's murder charge for experiencing a stillbirth has been dropped.

Pregnancy Justice Staff Attorney Samantha Lee testified in support of a California bill that will ensure that no one in the State of California will be prosecuted for ending a pregnancy or experiencing pregnancy loss. In her testimony, Ms. Lee shared a statement from Pregnancy Justice's client, Chelsea Becker, who was charged with murder for experiencing a stillbirth in Kings County, California.

Watch the webinar recording on our YouTube channel.

Pregnancy Justice, JMacForFamilies, Drug Policy Alliance, The Bronx Defenders, and The University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work convened to discuss the role social workers play in the oppression, criminalization, and surveillance of pregnant and postpartum people within the criminal and family policing (commonly known as child welfare) systems.

Last week, the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed the Arizona Department of Child Safety’s decision to place Lindsay R. on its child abuse and neglect Central Registry for 25 years for using legally prescribed marijuana to treat her hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a condition that causes severe nausea and vomiting and can endanger the life of the pregnant woman and her pregnancy.

On March 18, 2022, a judge in Kings County, California reversed Adora Perez's guilty plea and vacated her 11-year sentence, sending the case back to the trial court for new proceedings. In 2018, Adora Perez, poorly advised by her court-appointed counsel, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter of her fetus, a crime that doesn't exist in California.

Download PDF of testimony in support of HB 0626, Pregnant Person's Freedom Act

Download PDF of testimony in support of HB 1135, Perinatal Care: Drug and Alcohol Testing and Screening Consent

Testimony of Pregnancy Justice in Support of HB 0626, Pregnant Person’s Freedom Act

Pregnancy Justice respectfully submits this written testimony in support of HB 0626, a bill that protects pregnant people from criminalization related to pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriages, stillbirths, and abortions.

Pregnancy Justice is a non-partisan legal advocacy organization dedicated to the welfare of pregnant people and their families. Our testimony draws on over 20 years of experience on cases in which state actors arrested and prosecuted pregnant or postpartum women for experiencing pregnancy losses or engaging in acts or omissions that posed some imagined risk of harm to a fetus.

Pregnancy Justice has submitted written testimony opposing two bills in Wyoming, both of which would criminalize substance abuse during pregnancy. Read more for details on each bill and the reasons behind our opposition.

Download PDF version of testimony opposing HB0085.

Download PDF version of testimony opposing SF0089.

Testimony in Opposition to HB0085, "Child endangering-controlled substance use while pregnant"

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee of the Wyoming Senate.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 23, 2022

On February 22, 2022, the District Attorney in Lauderdale County, AL dropped an unprecedented felony charge for Unlawful Possession or Receipt of Controlled Substances (“Unlawful Possession”) against Kimberly Blalock, a mother of six.