John,
On late Friday, The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the Texas abortion ban, to go back in effect after it was temporarily blocked by a federal judge only two days before. 1 With other states trying to pass similar laws, it’s clear that the reproductive freedom afforded under Roe v. Wade is under threat.
As these threats gain traction, Black women, trans, and non binary folks will be criminalized first. We will start to see more cases like Jennifer Johnson's, a Black mother who was arrested and charged in 1989 with “delivering drugs to a minor” for using crack cocaine while pregnant.2 Meaning, pregnancy outcomes including miscarriage, self-managed abortion, premature birth, even falling down the stairs while pregnant could be interpreted as an attempted abortion and criminalized.
But we're fighting to stop prosecution where it starts--at the local district attorney's office. District attorneys represent one of the few lines of defense against this sweeping attempt to criminalize pregnancy, and it's because they have immense discretion over whether or not to charge someone with a crime.
By holding prosecutors accountable to use their discretion to keep law enforcement out of health decisions, we can make it just a little bit safer for pregnant people caught in this widespread attack on reproductive freedom.
Tell your da to stand up against abortion bans
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