Post-Dobbs Pregnancy Criminalization: Investigation and Charging Narratives in Prosecutions Involving Infant or Fetal Demise

• In Event: 30258 - Reproduction in the US Post-Roe

Abstract

In this article we explore the phenomenon of pregnancy criminalization in the United States in the first years after the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. We analyze the content of case-file investigation and charging narratives in pregnancy related prosecutions involving alleged infant or fetal demise. These data contribute to critical scholarly conversations about reproductive justice and offer empirical evidence explicating a theory of the ideological foundations of pregnancy criminalization. We find that investigating officers and prosecutors use specific frames, narratives, and allegations that reinforce the concept of fetal personhood and rely upon an entrenched, gendered stigma of ‘bad mothers.’

Authors

• Kendra J Hutchens, University of Colorado Anschutz, SOM

• Wendy Bach, University of Tennessee Knoxville

• Madalyn Wasilczuk, University of South Carolina

• Fikayo Walter-Johnson, Pregnancy Justice

• Imaan Khasru, Pregnancy Justice

• Michele Ko, Pregnancy Justice