Are women being prosecuted for abortions in states that outlaw it?

[Anonymous]

I'm wondering why I haven't heard much politically about women and doctors who are being prosecuted for abortions. Or even their husbands who might have allowed it. Isn't the fact that it is now a crime an issue for police and jails?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering why I haven't heard much politically about women and doctors who are being prosecuted for abortions. Or even their husbands who might have allowed it. Isn't the fact that it is now a crime an issue for police and jails?

The ultimate prosecution for some of them ....death.

[Anonymous]

I read the other day about a woman in one of the southern states (Texas?) prosecuted for a miscarriage, based on accusations that she deliberately caused it. Need to ind the link. She was sentenced to jail, spent 2 years but has had her sentence overturned but the prosecutor is threatening to go after her again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read the other day about a woman in one of the southern states (Texas?) prosecuted for a miscarriage, based on accusations that she deliberately caused it. Need to ind the link. She was sentenced to jail, spent 2 years but has had her sentence overturned but the prosecutor is threatening to go after her again.

Here’s the link. It was Nevada

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/abortion-law-nevada-arrest-miscarriage/

[Anonymous]

Also in Texas though the case was ultimately dropped.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-abortion-arrest-0a78cbb8f44cc24c3c9c811e1cc2b4d3#

And of course there was the guy who went after a couple of women who advised his ex wife on getting an abortion. He also eventually dropped the suit against them but not before they had to get lawyers, etc. That was under Texas’s law about suing people who aid and abet an abortion

[Anonymous]

This case in Ohio was pretty big news
https://apnews.com/article/ohio-miscarriage-prosecution-brittany-watts-b8090abfb5994b8a23457b80cf3f27ce

[Anonymous]

“In the year after the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, more than 200 pregnant women faced criminal charges for conduct associated with their pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth, according to a new report.

The report was produced by Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of pregnant people, including the right to abortion. Researchers in multiple states documented 210 cases of women being charged for pregnancy-related conduct in 12 states from June 24, 2022, to June 23, 2023, the first year after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, throwing the issue to the states.”
https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/01/200-women-faced-criminal-charges-over-pregnancy-in-year-after-dobbs-report-finds/
https://www.pregnancyjusticeus.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Pregnancy-as-a-Crime.pdf

[Anonymous]

Just like every other crime that can be punished, the people who are punished most are minorities and poor. Their stories are rarely known, and they don’t have the resources to get their story out to the world, especially if they’re fighting for their lives after a loss. Plus, if they’re from a small town like the woman in the story linked above, she may already be a social outcast dealing with a lot of shame and harassment due to the prosecution, so she may not be comfortable trying to get her story out, especially while she’s in the thick of it.

It’s complicated, to say the least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read the other day about a woman in one of the southern states (Texas?) prosecuted for a miscarriage, based on accusations that she deliberately caused it. Need to ind the link. She was sentenced to jail, spent 2 years but has had her sentence overturned but the prosecutor is threatening to go after her again.

Here’s the link. It was Nevada

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/abortion-law-nevada-arrest-miscarriage/

Not the best example, there were a lot of problems with that situation, including the pregnant woman. She was in the third trimester, smoking meth. Everyone involved in that case is awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This case in Ohio was pretty big news
https://apnews.com/article/ohio-miscarriage-prosecution-brittany-watts-b8090abfb5994b8a23457b80cf3f27ce

This was big news when it came out. Absolutely horrific story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read the other day about a woman in one of the southern states (Texas?) prosecuted for a miscarriage, based on accusations that she deliberately caused it. Need to ind the link. She was sentenced to jail, spent 2 years but has had her sentence overturned but the prosecutor is threatening to go after her again.

Here’s the link. It was Nevada

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/abortion-law-nevada-arrest-miscarriage/

Not the best example, there were a lot of problems with that situation, including the pregnant woman. She was in the third trimester, smoking meth. Everyone involved in that case is awful.

The reality is this is reality for many women. They get desperate. They do desperate things. This is why abortion should be safe and legal. Because there will always be desperate women who do desperate things. You'll never legislate that away. Especially not with Republicans in control - they create more desperation for people on the lower rungs of society. Always have, always will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read the other day about a woman in one of the southern states (Texas?) prosecuted for a miscarriage, based on accusations that she deliberately caused it. Need to ind the link. She was sentenced to jail, spent 2 years but has had her sentence overturned but the prosecutor is threatening to go after her again.

Here’s the link. It was Nevada

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/abortion-law-nevada-arrest-miscarriage/

Not the best example, there were a lot of problems with that situation, including the pregnant woman. She was in the third trimester, smoking meth. Everyone involved in that case is awful.

+1. She was actively trying to get rid of the baby, but it doesn’t seem that what she was trying is what led to the stillbirth. But this woman is like the stereotype of what everyone insists is NOT what leads women to seek abortions… sleeping with multiple men at a time, apparently no birth control, heavy drug use, etc. Also, FWiW, this was in 2018… pre Roe v Wade being overturned. Using a law from 1911.

This article says, though, that most laws are written such that it’s the doctor, not the pregnant woman, who will be prosecuted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read the other day about a woman in one of the southern states (Texas?) prosecuted for a miscarriage, based on accusations that she deliberately caused it. Need to ind the link. She was sentenced to jail, spent 2 years but has had her sentence overturned but the prosecutor is threatening to go after her again.

Here’s the link. It was Nevada

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/abortion-law-nevada-arrest-miscarriage/

Not the best example, there were a lot of problems with that situation, including the pregnant woman. She was in the third trimester, smoking meth. Everyone involved in that case is awful.

+1. She was actively trying to get rid of the baby, but it doesn’t seem that what she was trying is what led to the stillbirth. But this woman is like the stereotype of what everyone insists is NOT what leads women to seek abortions… sleeping with multiple men at a time, apparently no birth control, heavy drug use, etc. Also, FWiW, this was in 2018… pre Roe v Wade being overturned. Using a law from 1911.

This article says, though, that most laws are written such that it’s the doctor, not the pregnant woman, who will be prosecuted.

I can't imagine why anyone thinks it's a good idea for a person of that caliber to bring a child into the world. Never understood the argument.

At any rate what it shows is that it just takes a rogue prosecutor or sheriff or law enforcement official to go after women. And now there are fewer protections for them.

Are we going to start prosecuting women who have a stillbirth after eating soft cheeses pregnant women are always warned against eating? Or a woman who goes into a hot tub and has a miscarriage afterwards? Are all women of child-bearing ages going to be asked to take a pregnancy test before being allowed alcohol in restaurants and bars?

[Anonymous]

200+ women faced criminal charges over pregnancy in year after Dobbs, report finds:
Six states — Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas — accounted for the majority of cases documented by researchers

In the year after the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022, more than 200 pregnant women faced criminal charges for conduct associated with their pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth, according to a new report.

https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/01/200-women-faced-criminal-charges-over-pregnancy-in-year-after-dobbs-report-finds/

[Anonymous]

Women are dying! We may not be hearing much about prosecutions because the doctors are not performing the abortion.

Another woman died just yesterday in Texas

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/30/texas-abortion-ban-josseli-barnica-death-miscarriage/