Dear Friends and Allies,
I learned that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died when Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum announced this loss at the end of Rosh Hashanah high holiday services at CBST. My wife and I “attended” services by zoom. Like most of you reading this email, we were devastated, not only by the loss of this extraordinary woman, but also by the new threat to the survival of our constitutional democracy now that there is the possibility of another Trump appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Picture: Lynn M. Paltrow with Ferguson Plaintiff Paula Hale
at the U.S. Supreme Court (more…)
Drug use and pregnancy are sensitive subjects that are often addressed without the opportunity to hear from experts. Please view our webinar featuring medical experts who discuss evidence-based research on drug use, addiction, and pregnancy. In addition, local legal and community advocates offer insight into the current responses to drug use and pregnancy in the Central Valley and approaches that will advance maternal, fetal, and child health.
Chelsea Becker remains in Kings County jail charged with murder under California Penal Code §187 for having a stillbirth
On Friday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief stating that California Penal Code §187 does not authorize prosecutors to treat pregnancy losses as crimes of murder, and called for the criminal charges against Chelsea Becker to be dropped.
Download the Petition for Writ of Prohibition July 2020
Download the Renewed Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
Download Exhibits in Support of Petition for Writ of Prohibition July 2020
Download Exhibits to Renewed Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus_compressed
Download the DPA's amicus brief in the writ of prohibition
CALL TO URGENT ACTION:
Demand that Kings County, California District Attorney Keith L. Fagundes dismiss the murder charge against Chelsea Becker!
On November 6, 2019, Chelsea Becker was arrested and charged with murder under California Penal Code §187. Ms. Becker had experienced a stillbirth that the prosecutor claims (without any scientific basis) was caused by her methamphetamine use during pregnancy.
On May 8, 2020, Frontiers in Psychology published, Totality of the Evidence Suggests Prenatal Cannabis Exposure Does Not Lead to Cognitive Impairments: A Systematic and Critical Review, a peer-reviewed systematic review on the effects of prenatal exposure to marijuana.
In NAPW's study, Arrests of and Forced Interventions on Pregnant Women in the United States, 1973-2005: Implications for Women's Legal Status and Public Health, Jeanne Flavin and Lynn M. Paltrow documented the fact that an overwhelming and disproportionate number of arrests and detentions were brought against women of color and especially low-income Black women.
Responding to multiple requests for information and guidance, National Advocates for Pregnant Women and the Birth Rights Bar Association have created a resource for people who encounter mistreatment, abuse, and human rights violations during childbirth.
