Pregnancy Justice has filed a renewed Motion to Dismiss (MTD) on behalf of our client Kim Blalock, an Alabama mother who was charged with prescription fraud for taking medication prescribed by her physician to manage chronic back pain while pregnant. We recently won a motion seeking more information from the prosecutor, requiring them to detail Ms. Blalock’s alleged wrongdoing.
Pregnancy Justice Files Brief on Behalf of 45 Organizations, Experts, and Advocates, Including Actor Amy Schumer, in Support of Arizona Mother Found to Have Committed Child Neglect for Legally Using Medical Marijuana to Treat Hyperemesis Gravidarum During Her Pregnancy
Hyperemesis Gravidarum Is a Life-Threatening Pregnancy Condition
For Immediate Release: July 6, 2021
On Friday, July 1, Pregnancy Justice, as lead amici, asked an Arizona Court of Appeals to accept their brief on behalf of 45 leading health organizations, doctors, ethicists, scientific and medical experts, and advocates, including Amy Schumer, in support of Lindsay R., a mother found guilty of civil child neglect and placed on Arizona’s Child Abuse Central Registry because she used medical marijuana while pregnant pursuant to a valid medical certification and suffered from acute hyperemesis gravidarum.
Medical and Public Health Group Statements Opposing Prosecution and Punishment of Pregnant Women
Every leading medical and public health organization to address the issue of pregnant women and drug use has taken a position opposing punitive approaches as dangerous to maternal, fetal and child health. Please read the information below or download this fact sheet providing summaries of and citations to these statements.
Murder Charge Against Chelsea Becker for Experiencing a Stillbirth Is Dismissed
For Immediate Release: May 20, 2021
Today, Kings County Superior Court Judge Robert Shane Burns dismissed the murder charge against our client, Chelsea Becker. This outcome is a major victory in her 19-month legal battle challenging the legitimacy of a murder charge for experiencing a stillbirth.
Webinar Recording Available! When Pregnancy is Used to Deny Pregnant Patients Their Civil and Human Rights
Experts Address the Rights of Pregnant Patients to Informed Consent, Bodily Integrity, and Medical Decision Making
What happens when a pregnant patient exercises their right to medical decision making? Is there any justification to override a pregnant patient’s consent? Join Pregnancy Justice for a discussion featuring leaders in bioethics, medicine, law and birth justice about pregnant patients' rights to informed consent, bodily integrity, and medical decision making and the trauma that forced medical interventions can inflict on pregnant people.
Pregnancy Justice Moves to Dismiss Indictment in Lauderdale County, AL Based on Unprecedented and Unconstitutional Theory Regarding Pregnancy, Chronic Pain, and Prescription Drug Use
Today, Pregnancy Justice, with local counsel Brian White, filed a motion to dismiss an indictment against Kimberly Blalock, a mother in Lauderdale County, Alabama.
Ms. Blalock gave birth to a healthy baby on September 29, 2020. She has taken hydrocodone for approximately four years to manage chronic back pain due to the degeneration of discs in her back.
Chelsea Becker Is Released On Her Own Recognizance, But Not Yet Free
On March 9, 2021, Kings County Superior Court Judge Robert Shane Burns granted Chelsea Becker’s request to be released on her own recognizance so that she can enter a residential treatment facility, but her legal fight continues.
In 2019, Ms. Becker experienced a stillbirth, which Kings County District Attorney Keith L. Fagundes claims, without scientific basis, was caused by methamphetamine use.
Pregnancy Justice’s Comments Regarding the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Roundtable Conversation on the Biden-Harris Drug Policy Priorities
On February 20, 2021, in response to a request by the Biden-Harris Administration for input on its drug policy priorities, Pregnancy Justice submitted comments to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the government entity that leads and coordinates U.S. drug policy.
Pregnancy Justice Statement: The Fight to Free Chelsea Becker Continues: How the San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, New York Post, and Other Media Outlets Got It Wrong
On December 24, 2020, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article that included incorrect and dangerously misleading information about a recent California Supreme Court order in Chelsea Becker’s case. The article erroneously reported, “Court refuses to bar woman’s murder prosecution for death of fetus, a loss for Becerra.
Purdue Pharma Debtors’ Emergency Fund Expenditures – Proposed Guidelines
Having already written a statement challenging false and stigmatizing medical misinformation advanced in the context of the nationwide litigation seeking to hold pharmaceutical companies liable for the over- prescription of opioids in the U.S., Pregnancy Justice followed up with a letter regarding distribution of funds from Perdue’s bankruptcy settlement related to claims about its role in the national opioid addiction and overdose crisis.