Pregnancy is not a crime.
But the state weaponizes it to enforce control over women and all people with the capacity for pregnancy. We are the leading legal advocacy organization fighting to protect pregnant people’s rights by defending those who’ve been criminalized for pregnancy and drug use, pregnancy loss, or having or seeking an abortion.
People have long been charged with alleged crimes related to pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. In post-Roe America, it will only happen more frequently — especially to people of color, people with low incomes, and people who use drugs. They face criminal charges ranging from child neglect to endangerment to manslaughter to homicide.
The effects of criminalization reach far beyond abortion. People with wanted pregnancies and those who experience pregnancy loss are also impacted through the myth of “fetal personhood” and “fetal rights.”
Nobody should fear arrest or government control because of pregnancy or any pregnancy outcome, and pregnancy should not result in the loss of personhood for the pregnant person.