In post-Roe America, women who suffer miscarriages face threat of jail

An emboldened anti-abortion faction wants women who have abortions to face criminal charges

Many people involved in the abortion debate say a movement of so-called abortion abolitionists who want to punish women for having abortions is widening its influence. It began gaining momentum after the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.…

In post-Roe America, women who suffer miscarriages face threat of jail

Since the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark “Roe v. Wade” ruling in 2022, more and more American women have faced prosecution for miscarriages, accused of carrying out illegal abortions. These prosecutions are based on a legal concept known as “fetal personhood”, which means that fetuses, and in some cases even fertilised eggs, now have the same legal rights as a person – making any pregnancy loss potentially criminal.

Since the revocation of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the United States has experienced a sharp decline in reproductive freedom. Beyond the mere access to abortion, pregnancy as a whole — and its sometimes tragic outcome — has become the scene of a new system of control and punishment. The proliferation of legal proceedings against women who have miscarried reveals an ideological shift: that of a society where maternity becomes a duty, and where biologic…