A new study shows hundreds of women in the United States have been
arrested, forced to undergo unwanted medical procedures, and locked up
in jails or psychiatric institutions, because they were pregnant.
National Advocates for Pregnant Women found 413 cases when pregnant
women were deprived of their physical liberty between 1973, when Roe v.
Wade was decided, and 2005. At least 250 more interventions have taken
place since then. In one case, a court ordered a critically ill woman in
Washington, D.C., to undergo a C-section against her will. Neither she
nor the baby survived. In another case, a judge in Ohio kept a woman
imprisoned to prevent her from having an abortion. We’re joined by Lynn
Paltrow, founder and executive director of the National Advocates for
Pregnant Women. "We’ve had cases where lawyers have been appointed for a
fetus before the woman herself, who’s been locked up, ever gets a
lawyer," Paltrow says. "[We’ve had] cases where they’ve ordered a
procedure over women’s religious objections. And one court said pregnant
women of course have a right to religious freedom — unless it
interferes with what we believe is best for the fetus or embryo." The
new study comes on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the
landmark Supreme Court decision on the right to abortion — a right that
has been under siege ever since. Video
Source: Democracy Now!
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