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Understanding Pregnancy-Related Charges in Criminal Law
Co-produced by the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences and State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE®
Post-Dobbs dilemmas
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, people seeking abortions or reproductive health care and their providers have faced legal uncertainty and, in some circumstances, prosecution. An Ohio woman who miscarried at home and suffered from life-threatening hemorrhaging faced being charged with “corpse abuse,” until a grand jury declined to indict her.1 Current laws in states like Georgia and Florida now give prosecutors tools to surveil, investigate, and prosecute people seeking abortions and those who self-manage abortions.2 And several states have granted personhood status to unborn children in utero and fertilized eggs.3
At Understanding Pregnancy-Related Charges in Criminal Law, medical and legal practitioners will provide a survey and analysis of laws from states across the country that deal with miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, and contraception. You’ll discuss:
- The patchwork of pregnancy-related state criminal laws
- Current litigation related to reproductive health care
- New potential risks for pregnant people in light of recent Supreme Court arguments
- How fetal personhood laws and laws criminalizing abortion can deter people from seeking health care
Help clients who are unsure how to proceed in the face of varying state laws and restrictions on access to abortion, emergency health care, and certain medications with the guidance you’ll receive at Understanding Pregnancy-Related Charges in Criminal Law.
1 Ohio woman who miscarried at home won't be criminally charged, grand jury says
2 The criminalization of abortion and surveillance of women in a post-Dobbs world
3 LePage v. The Center for Reproductive Medicine, P.C., 2024 WL 626591 (Ala. 2024)
Dara Gell, (she/her), Pregnancy Justice
Dara Gell (she/her) joined Pregnancy Justice as senior staff attorney in 2024. Previously, she spent nearly seven years with the Innocence Project as the investigations attorney and supervisor for intake partnerships and training. Additionally, she served as interim director of intake at the Innocence Project for three years. She began her career as a practicing immigration defense attorney in New York City. Dara holds a B.A. from State University of New York at Geneseo and a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
Molly Linhorst, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ)
Molly Linhorst is a Staff Attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) in Newark, where she conducts litigation and advocacy to protect and advance a range of civil rights, including immigrants’ rights, free speech, and the rights of people in New Jersey’s jails. She first joined the ACLU-NJ in 2019 as a Justice Catalyst Fellow to address conditions in immigration detention centers. She received her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in political science and international relations, and her law degree from Harvard Law School.
Robin Marty, West Alabama’s Women’s Center
Robin Marty is the Executive Director of West Alabama’s Women’s Center, a free and sliding scale reproductive health center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Prior to moving to Alabama in 2021, she was a freelance reporter covering abortion access several states and rural areas. Marty is the author of Handbook for a Post-Roe America and The New Handbook for a Post-Roe America, and the co-author of The End of Roe v. Wade. She is also a 2023-24 Fellow in the Families USA Maternal Health Equity Program, where she is focusing on barriers to prenatal care in Alabama.
Mishka Terplan, M.D., M.P.H., FACOG, DFASAM, Friends Research Institute
Mishka Terplan, M.D., M.P.H., FACOG, DFASAM, is board certified in both obstetrics and gynecology, as well as addiction medicine. He completed his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco, and his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles County Hospital. After residency, Dr. Terplan completed the Training in Epidemiology and Clinical Trials (TECT) fellowship at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where he obtained a Master of Public Health in epidemiology. His primary clinical, research, and advocacy interests lie along the intersections of reproductive and behavioral health.
