Pregnancy Justice's Work

Read About All of Our Legal Advocacy, Public Education, and Organizing Work

Pregnancy Justice Comments on HHS Proposed HIPAA Rule

On behalf of Pregnancy Justice, staff attorney Emma Roth, submitted a comment to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in response to a proposed rule to strengthen reproductive health care privacy under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Drawing on Pregnancy Justice's work for over twenty years on cases where the state has intervened in the medical decision making of a pregnant person or the prosecution of them or their family on the basis of perceived risk of fetal harm, the comment recognizes that the proposed rule is an important step in the right direction for safeguarding reproductive health care privacy.

Who Do Fetal Homicide Laws Protect? An Analysis for a Post-Roe America Copy

After the 1973 Roe decision, anti-abortion groups responded with a strategic plan to reverse the decision and recriminalize abortion through laws that seek to codify the belief that life begins at conception. Some of these criminal statutes create a new crime for causing a pregnancy loss by injuring a pregnant person, and others expand the definitions of "person" or "another" to include zygotes, embryos, and fetuses under existing criminal codes for murder, manslaughter, or related charges.

Pregnancy Justice and Allies Comment on HHS Proposed HIPAA Rule

Pregnancy Justice, in coalition with other reproductive justice organizations and allies, submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in response to a proposed rule to strengthen reproductive health care privacy under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

The comments recognize that the proposed rule is an important step in the right direction for safeguarding reproductive health care information.

Pregnancy Justice Releases First-Ever Annual Impact Report

For immediate release
Contact: media@pregnancyjusticeus.org

NEW YORK — Today, Pregnancy Justice shared its first-ever annual impact report, highlighting a year of legal wins for people facing pregnancy-related criminal charges, the successful training of thousands of professionals on how to confront and reject pregnancy criminalization, the release of groundbreaking reports that moved the needle, and much more — even amid the loss of Roe.

An Announcement From Founder and Executive Director Lynn Paltrow

For immediate release
Contact: media@pregnancyjusticeus.org

NEW YORK — Today, founder Lynn Paltrow announced that she will be stepping down from the Executive Director role at Pregnancy Justice (formerly National Advocates for Pregnant Women) at the end of her sabbatical in May 2023.

She is working with the board and the staff to ensure a smooth transition, one that will occur with the benefit of Acting Executive Director Dana Sussman's leadership.

Pregnancy Justice Secures Release of 9 Pregnant or Postpartum Women From Alabama Jail and a Policy Change

For immediate release (updated October 2022)
Contact: media@pregnancyjusticeus.org

NEW YORK — After Pregnancy Justice learned that the Etowah County, Alabama, District Attorney was imposing unconstitutional bond conditions on all pregnant women and new mothers charged with "chemical endangerment of a child" and filed habeas petitions on behalf of two clients, a new policy is now in effect that will result in fewer indefinite and unlawful detentions.

When Fetuses Gain Personhood: Understanding the Impact on IVF, Contraception, Medical Treatment, Criminal Law, Child Support, and Beyond

After suffering setbacks, the fetal personhood movement has gained support. The theory of a fetus as a legal person has become the framework of anti-abortion states and was highlighted in Justice Alito's majority opinion in Dobbs, creating a path for a fetal right to life argument under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.