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Pro-choice and anti-abortion activists rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 in Washington, D.C.

Prosecuting Pregnancy

Reporting and investigations about the criminalization of pregnant people and the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

If you’d like to reach a reporter working on stories like these, please email us at postroe@themarshallproject.org.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Feature
She Ate a Poppy Seed Salad Just Before Giving Birth. Then They Took Her Baby Away.
Hospitals use drug tests that return false positives from poppy seed bagels, decongestants and Zantac. Yet newborns are being taken from parents based on the results.
Susan Horton, a White woman wearing a black tank top, arranges her children’s toys on top of a table.
A photo of a White woman with shoulder-length brown hair and a blue dress posing with her daughter, who is wearing a striped pastel dress and a bow in her blond hair. The woman and her daughter are sitting in a child’s room.
Feature December 12, 2024
Facing Decades in Prison, a Mississippi Mother Defied a Prosecutor and a Hazy Legal Theory
A prosecutor had been threatening mothers who used drugs while pregnant with long sentences — until Brandy Moore fought the case against her.
By Anna Wolfe
A White woman, wearing glasses and a red dress, sits at the front door of her house. One of her children stands behind her inside. A children's bike is stationed on the right side of the door.
Feature December 11, 2024
Hospitals Gave Patients Meds During Childbirth, Then Reported Them For Positive Drug Tests
Mothers were reported after they were given medications used routinely for pain or in epidurals, to reduce anxiety or to manage blood pressure during cesarean sections.
By
An illustration shows a police officer standing inside of a dark, blue and green kitchen holding a walkie-talkie while looking outside the window. Outside the window, a woman is kneeling, with bright yellow light on her as she looks at a small grave.
Feature October 31, 2024
Some States Are Turning Miscarriages and Stillbirths Into Criminal Cases Against Women
How a person handles a pregnancy loss — and where it occurs — can be the difference between a private medical issue and facing criminal charges.
By
A White woman, wearing a white tank top and a label that reads "Forced motherhood is female enslavement," yells while holding a sign that reads, "Stop the war on bodily autonomy." People are protesting in the background.
Closing Argument June 1, 2024
How Abortion’s Legal Landscape Post-Roe is Causing Fear and Confusion
We spoke with seven reproductive rights organizations — here’s what we found.
By and
Protesters held signs at a protest in Chicago, some of which read: "Abortion Access Everywhere!", and "My Body Now and Forever".
News March 26, 2024
Even Where Abortion Is Legal, People in Jail Face Huge Barriers
New reviews of jail policies in 13 states found vague, confusing or nonexistent guidelines and major hurdles to obtaining an abortion.
By
Amanda Aguilar, a woman with light-toned skin and red hair, wears a red tank top and denim shorts while sitting on a lawn chair outside her home.
Feature February 14, 2024
Medical Marijuana Is Legal, But Oklahoma Is Charging Women for Using It While Pregnant
Courts are set to decide if using the drug during pregnancy is a crime, even as a growing number of women in the state face prosecution.
By Brianna Bailey, The Frontier
Jessica Jackson goes through a pile of photos and paperwork that documented her life before and after her parental rights were taken away, while sitting in her living room in Conway, S.C. on August 11, 2023. Jackson tested positive for drugs while she was pregnant with her daughter. Under South Carolina policies, she ended up losing her parental rights and was placed on a child abuse registry. Only one of her children lives nearby, with the others living in other states.
Feature December 4, 2023
Pregnant Women in South Carolina Face Severe Consequences for Using Drugs
Some doctors and lawyers contend the prosecutions are based on faulty science.
By Jocelyn Grzeszczak and Eva Herscowitz, The Post and Courier
Life Inside November 17, 2023
Being a Corrections Officer Is Hard Enough. Doing the Job While Pregnant Is a Nightmare.
Lia McKeown says a California prison refused to adjust her job duties to accommodate her pregnancies. Now she’s suing for discrimination.
By Lia McKeown as told to
A layered collage illustration shows Monroe County sheriff’s investigator Spencer Woods in black and white. Behind him is an image of the Monroe County Detention Facility with a written guilty plea for the charge of child abuse, with “took drugs” in parentheses. On the left of the image is a baby ultrasound on an orange background. Underneath the ultrasound is an excerpt of court documents from the State of Mississippi.
Feature November 16, 2023
They Were Prosecuted for Using Drugs While Pregnant. But It May Not Have Been a Crime
Dozens of women in Mississippi have been charged with child abuse crimes that, based on existing state law, they may not have committed.
By Anna Wolfe, Mississippi Today
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