A 24-year-old woman in Georgia is going through the unimaginable. After tragically miscarrying her pregnancy at 19 weeks, she experienced such horrific blood loss that she lost consciousness. She was rushed to the hospital to receive the medical care she desperately needed.
Then, she was arrested.That's right.
Georgia authorities are abhorrently trying to claim that a woman who lost her pregnancy naturally is somehow a criminal because of how she dealt with the aftermath.Sign the petition and demand that Georgia lawmakers repeal the state law that police are using to charge this woman!Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade,
a law has been in effect in Georgia banning abortions after six weeks, before most people know they are pregnant. Part of that law includes language that could be interpreted as granting fetal personhood -- and
that is the part of the law that authorities are using to charge this poor woman.After the woman miscarried, she disposed of the fetal tissue before she passed out. There is absolutely no law in Georgia that dictates how a person must handle a non-viable fetus after a natural miscarriage, and yet authorities are claiming that she broke the law by throwing the remains away.
Approximately one in four pregnancies end in a miscarriage. A miscarriage is a heartbreaking, dangerous medical event that must be treated with care and understanding, centering the pregnant person and their needs.
The woman's miscarriage was determined to be natural, and the coroner confirmed that there was absolutely no injury or trauma to the fetus. At 19 weeks, the fetus would not have been able to survive outside of the womb, defining it as non-viable.
The arrest of this woman is downright evil and unjust.After the overturning of Roe v. Wade,
things have gotten treacherous for pregnant people in the United States. More and more, we see people being criminalized and vilified for choices they make about their own body.
We cannot allow this Georgia case to begin a new chapter where pregnant people are criminalized for going through the tragic experience of miscarrying.That's why we're asking that the Georgia Legislature repeal the law that is being used to criminalize the way people handle their own miscarriages! Sign the petition to join us.