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John,
Senate Republicans have voted to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, only 5 days before the election.
Amy Coney Barrett's judicial and academic history makes one thing clear: Roe v. Wade will be under serious threat now that she is on the Supreme Court. Barrett has proclaimed her dedication to “originalism” or the belief that “constitutional text means what it did at the time it was ratified and that this original public meaning is authoritative.”1 This should come as no surprise because conservatives often use this legal justification to push back against liberal decisions involving civil rights and the federal government’s power.2
When faced with a decision, Barrett will likely fall in line with the common conservative belief that the constitution has nothing to say about abortion and it should be left to the states to decide the question for themselves. This means states like Louisiana and Tennessee, where we've already seen over 100 attempts to restrict access to abortion & other forms of vital reproductive health care, will be left to their own devices.3 Thousands of people a year who seek abortions will be criminalized, potentially facing prison time for a self-managed abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, or other pregnancy outcomes. Bottom line: no one should be locked up for taking their reproductive healthcare into their own hands.
That's where you come in. Amy Coney Barrett’s judicial record is clear. Now that she has been confirmed it's crucial we call on district attorneys to step up to protect our reproductive autonomy. Your district attorney has the power to intervene by getting ahead of potential criminalization by committing to exercise their discretion and refuse to prosecute based on pregnancy outcomes.
Sign the petition: Tell your DA it's time to protect reproductive autonomy.
Prosecutors are powerful actors within the criminal justice system and have incredible discretion over which cases to prosecute. That's why we're calling on them to sign a pledge making a public commitment adopting the following demands:
- Firm commitment to not prosecute abortion as well as other pregnancy outcomes and a public stance reaffirming this position if any anti-abortion legislation is passed in your state.
- A declination policy that ensures child-bearers will not be prosecuted for their pregnancy outcomes and that feticide laws will not be used as a proxy for punishing pregnancy loss, including but not limited to:
- Declining to prosecute pregnant people related to miscarriages, stillbirths, or any form of pregnancy loss.
- Declining to prosecute pregnant people related to actions during pregnancy, including medically-assisted or self-managed abortion, drug use/possession/distribution during pregnancy where the fetus, embryo or fertilized egg is the alleged recipient, attempted suicide, fighting, or car accidents.
- Declining to prosecute pregnant people for alleged inactions during pregnancy, for not obtaining or consenting to medical treatment, not reporting a pregnancy loss or outcome or actions or omissions of people who are often victims, characterized as a failure to protect their fetus, embryo, fertilized egg or child.
- A plan to train all staff in the District Attorney office on a recurring basis and through publicly available training materials on the systemic racism and state-sanctioned violence regularly inflicted on Black child-bearers in Louisiana.
It’s crucial for district attorneys to commit to a reproductive justice framework that supports every person’s right to have a child, not have a child, and parent the children they do have with dignity and respect. Because we know that pregnant Black people will be criminalized first. We've seen this happen time and time again in cases where Black women have been arrested for things like taking legal drugs prescribed by their doctor, having a miscarriage, getting into a car accident, and even falling down the stairs. Cases like Latice Fisher, Marshae Jones, Renishia Gibbs, Kenlissia Jones, Jessie Mae Jefferson, and Keysheonna Reed, and others, serve as a devastating example of instances in which Black pregnant people have been forced to endure the threat of arrest and incarceration during the moments when they are most in need of medical care and support.
It's up to us to demand solutions that will heal and protect our communities. And that starts with district attorneys ensuring Black child-bearers aren't forced to choose between their reproductive health and a prison sentence.
Until justice is real,
--Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Madison, Leonard, Ernie, Ariel, Ana, McKayla, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
References:
- "Amy Coney Barrett’s philosophy has far worse roots than most Americans know." Washington Post. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/279335?t=6&akid=47648%2E4731121%2EKyRbts
- Ibid.
- "Will Louisiana Be the First State to Criminalize Abortion After Justice Ginsburg’s Death?" Rewire. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/274583?t=8&akid=47648%2E4731121%2EKyRbts
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