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- Title
More Than Receptacles: An International Human Rights Analysis of Criminalizing Pregnancy in the United States.
- Authors
Soderberg, Vanessa
- Abstract
Pregnant women are arrested, detained, and forced to undergo invasive medical procedures at an alarming rate in the United States. In 2014, Tennessee was the first state to pass a law directly criminalizing drug use by pregnant women, making the crime of fetal assault applicable to pregnant women in relation to the embryos and fetuses they carry. At least thirty women in Tennessee have been arrested under this law' since it went into effect. The common theme across these cases is that drug use by pregnant women is being dealt with as criminal assault and homicide or civil child abuse, rather than as a health care issue. Criminalizing pregnant women's conduct creates an adversarial relationship between a woman and her fetus, prioritizing the rights of the fetus and treating women as mere receptacles who are void of rights. Tennessee's fetal assault law violates numerous international human rights, including the right to be free from discrimination, and the right to health, liberty, and autonomy. Notably, Tennessee violates pregnant women's human rights absent any evidence of actual harm to the fetus or newborn, including any evidence that drug use actually causes the alleged harm. Criminalizing drug use by pregnant women creates a separate legal system for anyone that becomes pregnant, deters pregnant women from seeking drug treatment, and ultimately results in a greater risk of harm to both pregnant women and the embryos and fetuses they carry.
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL law &; human rights; DRUG use in pregnancy; PREGNANT women -- Crimes against; EMBRYONIC motility; ASSAULT &; battery; HOMICIDE
- Publication
Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, 2016, Vol 31, Issue 2, p299
- ISSN
1933-1045
- Publication type
Article