Posted on Aug 5, 2022
Criminalization of pregnancy has already been happening to the poor and women of color
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McMahon studies abortion access and she says while women will certainly die because of the Supreme Court's decision, this idea of women dying from back alley abortions is stuck in the past. "I understand why people go to that talking point," she says. "But that's just not where the evidence points."
Medicine has advanced over the past fifty years. Now there are self-managed abortions — known as SMAs — pills people can take to safely terminate a pregnancy from home.
But America's prison and policing system has also grown, McMahon says. Fifty years ago we didn't have our current culture of mass incarceration.
"We're gonna see more people being criminalized, more people being arrested and more people being incarcerated."
"I think a lot of people's first reaction was to pull out the coat hanger imagery," McMahon says about the ending of Roe.
But a more accurate symbol might be prison bars.
Medicine has advanced over the past fifty years. Now there are self-managed abortions — known as SMAs — pills people can take to safely terminate a pregnancy from home.
But America's prison and policing system has also grown, McMahon says. Fifty years ago we didn't have our current culture of mass incarceration.
"We're gonna see more people being criminalized, more people being arrested and more people being incarcerated."
"I think a lot of people's first reaction was to pull out the coat hanger imagery," McMahon says about the ending of Roe.
But a more accurate symbol might be prison bars.
Criminalization of pregnancy has already been happening to the poor and women of color
Posted from opb.org
Abortion
Medical
Health
Crime
Pregnancy
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."SUSSMAN: All of a sudden, the state can charge you with crimes that do not exist if you were not pregnant.
DIRKS: And now, Sussman says, a lot more women will be forced into pregnancy. And there's no way to tell the difference between self-managed abortions and miscarriages.
SUSSMAN: What I anticipate is that prosecutors will sweep in anyone who is experiencing a pregnancy loss that they deem, quote, "suspicious."
DIRKS: And Black women are twice as likely to experience miscarriage and stillbirth than white women. Abortion researcher Hayley McMahon says there are still things that can be done to curb the criminalization of pregnancy.
MCMAHON: I continue to be flabbergasted that we are not having a national conversation about decriminalizing self-managed abortion.
DIRKS: McMahon says it's key to understand that the conversation about pregnancy and abortion is not just about health and physical survival. Increasingly, it's about prison and policing."
..."SUSSMAN: All of a sudden, the state can charge you with crimes that do not exist if you were not pregnant.
DIRKS: And now, Sussman says, a lot more women will be forced into pregnancy. And there's no way to tell the difference between self-managed abortions and miscarriages.
SUSSMAN: What I anticipate is that prosecutors will sweep in anyone who is experiencing a pregnancy loss that they deem, quote, "suspicious."
DIRKS: And Black women are twice as likely to experience miscarriage and stillbirth than white women. Abortion researcher Hayley McMahon says there are still things that can be done to curb the criminalization of pregnancy.
MCMAHON: I continue to be flabbergasted that we are not having a national conversation about decriminalizing self-managed abortion.
DIRKS: McMahon says it's key to understand that the conversation about pregnancy and abortion is not just about health and physical survival. Increasingly, it's about prison and policing."
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