Imagine being investigated, going to jail, or imprisoned simply for taking care of your health in the privacy of your own home—or helping someone you love. That’s what has happened to 61 people in the United States when they or someone they loved ended their pregnancy at home, according to a terrifying new study by reproductive justice organization If/When/How.¹ Shockingly, the majority of people investigated or arrested were using medication abortion, which has been shown to be safer than common medications like Tylenol or Viagra early in pregnancy.^2,3

We all deserve to make decisions about our bodies, families, and future without the fear of criminalization. But sadly, that is not the current reality for pregnant people in the United States.

Seven states at one point had enacted restrictive bans on "self-managed abortions."⁴ But even more egregious is that the majority of pregnant people criminalized over the past two decades lived in states without those explicit laws—an overreach of anti-abortion advocates contorting existing laws in order to criminalize pregnant people. Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities continue to be disproportionately criminalized.⁵

The report is nothing short of devastating. A mother was incarcerated for helping her 16-year-old daughter obtain medication abortion in Pennsylvania. A woman was convicted for taking mifepristone and over-the-counter herbs in order to end her pregnancy in Arizona—overturned by an appellate court. Another woman in Georgia was arrested for "malice murder" and possession of a dangerous drug (medication abortion that was not prescribed) and placed in jail. The stories heartbreakingly go on.⁷

In many cases, the people who called the police were the same people we are often told to go to for help—medical professionals. By making pregnant people afraid to go to hospitals and clinics for help or questions, we drive people into further isolation and danger.

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