Abortion bans in 16 states are
threatening to
jail and punish pregnant people.
Tell your District Attorney :
Do NOT enforce abortion bans. Do not
criminalize pregnancy.
Dear friend,
We are in the midst of a coordinated and well-planned attack on reproductive freedom--and it's putting pregnant women, trans and gender non-conforming folk's lives at risk. Abortion bans in 16 states are threatening to jail and punish pregnant people, scrutinizing every decision a pregnant person makes about their bodies.1 These laws are a violation of constitutional and human rights and do not uphold the sanctity of life in the slightest.
We know Black women will be the ones criminalized first. Right now in Mississippi, Latice Fisher, a young Black mother who was charged with 2nd-degree murder after having a stillbirth, is fighting for her freedom as she faces life imprisonment and separation from her children.2 But things could be a lot different for Latice if the District Attorney had never charged her in the first place. Latice has been needlessly dragged through the legal system, deprived of her rights to bodily freedom and medical privacy, and her family has been destabilized. Latice’s case is just one out of hundreds -- and we will see more women criminalized under these abortion bans if we don’t do everything in our power to stop it.
Prosecutors are powerful actors within the criminal justice system and have incredible discretion over which cases to prosecute. District attorneys can exercise their discretion and refuse to criminalize pregnant people. In Georgia, DAs in counties in Atlanta's metro area are already refusing to enforce the state’s unconstitutional abortion ban and Salt Lake County Attorney Sim Gill has declared that he will not enforce a Utah measure banning abortions after 18 weeks.3,4 Here's why : criminalization discourages women who want an abortion or are experiencing pregnancy loss or complications from seeking medical care for fear of arrest and punishment. Not to mention, these abortion bans are unconstitutional. Prosecutors have no duty to enforce them given the protections afforded under Roe v. Wade. That is why we are calling on all prosecutors to take on this same level of leadership and refuse to criminalize pregnancy decisions or outcomes.
Black women die from pregnancy complications at 3 to 4 times the rate of white women due to inequitable and inadequate health care.5 Black trans men also face significant barriers accessing adequate reproductive healthcare needed for their pregnancies--often being discriminated against or flat out refused care by doctors. We cannot allow incarceration to be added to the list of reasons our people avoid seeking medical care. Expanding the definition of personhood to include fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses deprive women of a number of basic protections and exposes them to criminal allegations. Medical and public health groups at large have recognized the destructive results that ensue when women are prosecuted in relation to their pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes.6 Maternal, fetal, and newborn health suffer. Women are forced to live in fear that their pregnancy outcome will result in a prison sentence or death. Bottom line : law enforcement, including prosecutors, has no place in pregnancy decisions or their outcomes.
Black women are becoming the fastest growing segment of the prison population in the United States -- making up 29 percent of the incarcerated population but only around 7 percent of the total population.7 Most of those women are mothers or the primary caregivers of their families. When a mother is targeted by law enforcement or incarcerated, her entire family suffers. As Black women, we are already seen as less than human, purveyors of Black criminality, and untrustworthy to make decisions regarding our reproductive health. This perception along with other societal and health system factors is why Black women face the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the country, making them even more susceptible to criminalization for their pregnancy outcomes.8 We need district attorneys across the country to use their discretion and refuse to prosecute abortion, pregnancy loss or any other pregnancy decision.
Dear friend, as a part of our national movement to hold prosecutors accountable to their communities, we can push them to uphold real justice and let women, trans and gender non-conforming people make their own decisions for their own bodies.
To be clear, the recent backlash against reproductive freedom has very little to do with preserving the sanctity of life. These new anti-abortion laws that require jail time for pregnancy outcomes are really about racial, economic and social control. The stain and history of reproductive control exerted over Black women is deeply rooted in the United States : from forced breeding and psychotic medical experiments on enslaved women in the antebellum period, to today's forced sterilizations of Black women in prison or on public assistance, and Black trans women who undergo coerced sterilization in order be legally recognized as women.9,10,11 Too often, Black women are seen as perpetrators of societal ills needing "guidance" on how to structure their lives, parent their children and make decisions concerning the physical and emotional wellbeing of their families. The Moynihan report of 1965 literally called the breakdown of the Black family a national crisis and blamed it on Black women.12 Several local officials have even characterized Black pregnant people who struggle with addiction as deviants gaming the system and should not be trusted to make decisions regarding their reproductive health.13 Restrictive abortion measures will only further this racism and misogyny by giving the state additional means to punish Black pregnant people--especially those who exercise their reproductive autonomy.
In the tradition of Black pioneers and crusaders for reproductive justice like Elaine Brown, Shirley Chisholm, Loretta Ross, Bylle Avery, and Dr. Willie Parker, we must come together to make strategic interventions for the health and safety of our people.14 We need the few defenses available to us, specifically local prosecutors, to set a clear precedent for how to act in these moments of crises. Remember, DAs are elected officials that must answer to their constituents. Together, we can uplift this important issue and call on those in power to protect women, trans and gender non-conforming people in this country.
Until justice is real,
Clarise, Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Erika, Kristen M., Marybeth, Marena, Leonard, Kristen P., Madison, Tamar and the rest of the Color Of Change team
References :
- “Alabama's anti-abortion law isn't alone. Here are all the states pushing to restrict access.” CNN, 16 May 2019.
- “Mississippi Woman Criminally Charged for Pregnancy Outcome After Home Birth (Updated).” Rewire News, 6 February 2018.
- “District attorneys from across metro Atlanta say they won't prosecute women for abortions.” 11 Alive, 17 May 2019.
- “Salt Lake district attorney says he won't enforce Utah's abortion ban.” The Hill, 15 May 2019.
- Reproductive Health. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 February 2019.
- “Report: Criminalizing Pregnancy a ‘Noose Around Your Neck.’” Rewire News, 23 May 2017.
- “Women’s Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018.” Prison Policy Initiative, 13 November 2018.
- Ibid.
- “The History Of American Slavery: “Good Breeders.” Slate, 24 August 2015.
- "'Father Of Gynecology,' Who Experimented On Slaves, No Longer On Pedestal In NYC.” NPR, 17 August 2018.
- “Forced and Coerced Sterilization: The Nightmare of Transgender and Intersex Individuals.” Impakter, 4 February 2016.
- “The Moynihan Report Is Turning 50. Its Ideas on Black Poverty Were Wrong Then and Are Wrong Now.” In These Times, 30 June 2015.
- Ibid.
- “Black women and the fight for abortion rights: How this brochure sparked the movement for reproductive freedom.” MSNBC, 25 March 2019.
Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.
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