What’s Dobbs Got to Do with It?: Pregnancy-Related Prosecutions in a Post-Roe World

Introduction

This essay explores the legal architecture and growth of these ideas, both after Roe and after Dobbs, in three parts. It argues that, in an era in which suspicion about pregnancy loss seems to be growing, prosecutions involving pregnancy that target pregnant women may be on the rise, and law enforcement and prosecutors hold the tools they need to charge pregnant women with these crimes. Part I starts with the numbers and the history, summarizing what we know about these prosecutions since 1973. Part II turns to the idea of prosecuting pregnancy-related conduct, drawing a conceptual map underlying these prosecutions and tracing their legal basis. Part III turns to our preliminary data regarding prosecutions involving allegations related to fetal or infant demise and describes why we suspect that prosecuting pregnancy loss is on the rise after Dobbs.