Abortion activists are promoting lies that mothers will be investigated on for miscarriages if Roe v. Wade is overturned in line with the December 1 hearing of the United States Supreme Court on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case.
Life News said the activists are "stirring up unfounded fears" through false claims that women would be "criminally investigated for marriages" once the Roe v. Wade is overturned in the Supreme Court. The pro-life outlet particularly cited Newsweek in promoting such claims in its report on Tuesday entitled, "Overturning Roe v. Wade Could Lead to More Women Being Jailed for Miscarriages."
The report cited the case of 21-year-old Brittney Poolaw from Oklahoma who was found guilty for manslaughter after having a miscarriage at 17 weeks for using drugs and was sentenced to four years of imprisonment. The verdict came despite medical witness raising that the drug, methamphetamine, may have not directly caused the miscarriage.
"Poolaw's sentence prompted an outcry, but experts warn that her case offers a preview of a draconian future where such prosecutions could become all too common if Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy nationwide, is overturned," the report said.
Life News pointed out that such is not the case citing pro-life laws to be protective of women and the unborn and that pro-abortion activists are just viewing such laws as controlling and harmful.
"The truth is that pro-life advocates and the laws that they fight for do not and never have punished women, including laws that protected unborn babies' right to life in the decades before Roe v. Wade. But abortion activists view the issue as a matter of control, believing erroneously that pro-life advocates' goal is to control women's bodies, not protect unborn babies' lives," the pro-life outlet highlighted.
"As many as 26 states could protect unborn babies by banning abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion research group. But none of these states punish mothers for losing their unborn babies to miscarriages or even for choosing to abort them," they added.
National Advocates for Pregnant Women Founder and Executive Director Lynn Paltrow told Newsweek that Poolaw's case is rare and underscored more could even happen if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
"A giant green light for prosecutors who are intent on finding ways to police and penalize the people who get pregnant," Paltrow remarked on overturning Roe v. Wade.
Life News underscored that Paltrow's statements in the interview would later on contradict itself when she revealed that "there were arrests before Roe, not that many, but there absolutely were some."
The said cases Paltrow was referring to actually have nothing to do with miscarriages but instances of recklessness or extreme negligence on the part of the mother, based on strong evidence on their intent to kill the baby on purpose.
Paltrow isn't the only one stating false claims but also the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers who alleged that mass over-criminalization of women will result from the recognition of "unborn babies as persons with protected legal rights."
"Claims about women being prosecuted in the future simply because they suffered a miscarriage or did not seeking out prenatal care are irrational hyperbole with no basis in reality," Life News stressed.
