Report: 902 women faced 955 pregnancy-related criminal charges in 3 years after Dobbs

More than 900 women faced criminal charges over conduct related to their pregnancies in the first three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022. That is the finding of a new report from Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit group that supports abortion rights ¹. The Supreme Court decision is known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ¹.

The group found 902 women facing a total of 955 charges in 23 states ¹. Most of the cases were in South Carolina (381), Oklahoma (222) and Alabama (204) ¹. All three states have courts that have backed fetal personhood, the idea that a fetus or embryo has the same legal rights as a person who has been born ¹.

What the charges were

Most of the charges, 876 of 955, were for child abuse, neglect or endangerment, and most related to substance use during pregnancy ¹. Researchers found 871 allegations of substance use and 77 allegations that a woman failed to get prenatal care ¹. They also found 13 allegations tied to getting, trying to get, or researching how to get an abortion ¹.

The group would not give more detail on those 13 cases. It says it is still collecting data and hopes to publish a full analysis in 2028 ¹. Dana Sussman of Pregnancy Justice told The Nation the report documents 70 prosecutions involving pregnancy loss ².

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Most abortion laws target those who provide abortions, not the women who have them ¹. These charges mostly came under other laws, such as child abuse statutes.

Madalyn Wasilczuk, a University of South Carolina law professor and one of the study's authors, said Dobbs has changed how willing police and prosecutors are to treat miscarriages and stillbirths as crimes rather than medical tragedies ¹. She said the fear of charges can keep pregnant women, especially those who use substances, away from doctors ¹.

Pressure to punish women is growing

Lawmakers in about a dozen states have introduced bills in the past two years to penalize women who have abortions, and supporters expect more next year ¹. Bills in South Carolina and at least eight other states would classify abortion as homicide. Except in North Dakota, that would make violators eligible for the death penalty ¹. The Nation reports that state lawmakers floated 14 bills to charge people who have abortions with homicide and that none passed ².

Some anti-abortion leaders oppose the push. Eric Scheidler, president of the Pro-Life Action League, argued against prosecuting women in an article this summer ¹.

T. Russell Hunter of Abolitionists Rising, which backs penalties for women, said he credits groups like his with pushing bills to be "a little more radical" ¹.

What happens next

In South Carolina this year, a Senate committee approved a bill with up to two years in prison for a woman convicted of inducing her own abortion, but it did not advance further ¹. A lobbyist for Pro-Life Greenville said he expects it to return next year ¹.

Some states have moved the other way. California, Colorado, Minnesota and New Jersey have passed laws protecting women from criminal or civil penalties for conduct during pregnancy or while getting reproductive health care ¹.

Nevada is the only state where a woman can be charged for inducing her own abortion, under a 1911 law ¹. Humboldt County, Nevada, paid $1.6 million this month to settle a claim from a woman charged under it after a 2018 miscarriage. Her 2019 manslaughter guilty plea was vacated in 2021 ¹.

That matters because the report shows how far enforcement reaches beyond abortion clinics. The charges are allegations, and the report counts charges filed, not convictions ¹.

The Record

1. Jun 1, 2022The U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision struck down the constitutional right to an abortion ¹.
2. Jan 1, 2021A Nevada woman's 2019 manslaughter plea after a 2018 miscarriage was vacated for ineffective assistance of counsel ¹.
3. Oct 27, 2026Stateline reports that Pregnancy Justice counted 902 women and 955 charges in 23 states over three years ¹.

Sources

1. Stateline, “900+ women criminally charged for their conduct during pregnancies” (2026-10-27). stateline.org/2026/10/27/900-women-criminally-charged-for-th
2. The Nation, “Criminalization of pregnancy, substance abuse and Dobbs (interview with Pregnancy Justice's Dana Sussman)” (2026-10-20). thenation.com/article/society/criminalization-pregnancy-subs

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