The timing of my conversation with Karen Johnson, Legal Director of Pregnancy Justice, couldn’t be better—in the worst way possible. I spoke to Karen last week about the growing number of women being arrested for miscarriages; today, a West Virginia county prosecutor told a local television station that the state plans to charge women over how they dispose of their miscarriages.
Everything about this story mirrors what Karen and I talked about above—including how emboldened prosecutors are now saying the quiet part out loud.
In an interview with WBOY, Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Truman said if women who miscarry want to avoid arrest, they should “call 911” to tell them that their pregnancy has ended:
“Call your doctor. Call law enforcement, or 911, and just say, ‘I miscarried. I want you to know.’”
Spoken like someone who has absolutely no fucking idea what miscarriage is like.
There are a few things about this interview that I want to flag; because Truman might be a local prosecutor, but what he’s saying isn’t unique to West Virginia. He’s repeating sentiments we’ve heard from Republicans and law enforcement around the country.
First, Truman said that how a woman feels about her pregnancy loss could be used against her. If she wasn’t excited to be pregnant, for example:
“If you were relieved, and you had been telling people, ‘I’d rather get ran over by a bus than have this baby,’ that may play into law enforcement’s thinking, too.”
Leaving aside how callous this sentence is—how easily he talks about a woman being suicidal over pregnancy—this echoes what I’ve written about the anti-abortion movement’s obsession with defining abortion as an ‘intention’. It’s a dangerous and incorrect standard for lots of reasons, but especially when it comes to criminalization.
Wasn’t sure about your pregnancy? Did a Google search for clinics early on? If you have a miscarriage or stillbirth, maybe prosecutors use that against you.
Truman also said that the charges would depend on how far along in pregnancy a person was—which gets at something Abortion, Every Day and Pregnancy Justice have both long warned about: ‘viability’ lines. (Make sure to read PJ’s report on ‘viability’ listed at the end of this email.)
But here’s the biggest thing: Truman made clear he’s not the only one thinking about how to charge miscarriage patients. He told the West Virginia station that multiple prosecutors have discussed their willingness to bring charges against women who miscarry.
That’s because these criminalization cases aren’t one-off anomalies, or an issue of prosecutors not understanding the law. They’re part of a broader move towards fetal personhood and punishing women.
Because remember: there are no laws about how someone should dispose of a miscarriage, but the anti-abortion movement wants to change that. Just yesterday, I reported that Students for Life is lobbying Republicans to bring federal legislation that requires the burial or cremation of miscarriage remains.
I’ll have more on all of this soon, but watch my conversation with Karen in the meantime. Pregnancy Justice really has been on the cutting edge of this issue for decades.
You can also learn more by checking out of a few of the resources Karen mentioned in our chat:
The Role of Viability in Pregnancy Criminalization, which was written with Patient Forward (pdf)
Pregnancy as a Crime: A Preliminary Report on the First Year After Dobbs, which looks at criminalization trends (pdf)
And go to their Legal Landscape page for maps of ‘fetal rights’ laws, IVF laws, and laws about advance directives during pregnancy.
Finally, keep an eye on your inboxes: There won’t be a daily report today because I’m working on a stand-alone article about conservatives’ plan to normalize arresting women for their pregnancy outcomes. (They’re leaving hints all over the place, but don’t think anyone will notice.)
It’s paid subscribers that allow me to uncover anti-abortion strategies and have conversations like this one. So if you value what Abortion, Every Day does, please consider upgrading your subscription if you haven’t already:
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