Alicia Beltran, a 28-year-old pregnant woman, sought early prenatal care and confided in health care workers about prior use of painkillers and her efforts to end that use on her own. Instead of commending Ms. Beltran for her progress, her medical practitioners reported her to the Department of Human Services, as a result of which she was arrested on July 18, 2013 by Wisconsin law enforcement officials.
In the context of the nationwide litigation seeking to hold pharmaceutical companies liable for the over- prescription of opioids in the U.S., a team of private lawyers is seeking court approval to separately represent the interests of children born to women who used opioids during pregnancy.
In the context of the nationwide litigation seeking to hold pharmaceutical companies liable for the over-prescription of opioids in the U.S, a team of private lawyers calling themselves the “Opioid Justice League” is seeking court approval to separately represent the interests of children born to women who used opioids during pregnancy.
On August 1, 2019, a prosecutor in Chattanooga, TN appeared in court and dropped all charges against Tiffany Roberts.
National Advocates for Pregnant Women and a coalition of Tennessee and national advocates and experts spoke out quickly and forcefully against the arrest and charges brought against Tiffany Roberts on July 23 in Chattanooga.
Late last week, Tiffany Roberts of Chattanooga was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and neglect and viable fetus as a victim after experiencing a miscarriage at 23 weeks. She was pregnant with twins and faces charges for each separately and remains in jail unable to post the $1 million bond.
NAPW Senior Staff Attorney Amber Khan authored "The Crime Was Pregnancy," published in the Summer 2019 issue of Ms. Magazine. This important piece provides an update to Janet Gallagher's Ms. Magazine article "The Fetus and the Law -- Whose Life Is It Anyway," published over 35 years ago.
In February 2018, Ms Roberta Baker, a mother in St. Francois County, Missouri who lost her baby around 24 hours after giving birth, was charged with felony child abuse and neglect. Ms. Baker did not receive health care during her pregnancy and birth because she did not have a health care provider she could access or trust.
NAPW Senior Staff Attorney Aarin Williams was featured on the 5/19/19 episode of CNN’s “United Shades of America” hosted by W. Kamau Bell. This episode, “Body Politics”, focused on reproductive rights and justice in Jackson, Mississippi, and Aarin grounded the episode in a discussion of intersectionality, reproductive justice, and maternal health.
NAPW Executive Director Lynn Paltrow chaired a panel at this year’s Harm Reduction International Conference (HR19) on “Women’s Empowerment”, with panelists Jade Boyd, Darla Matyushina-Ocheret, Aura Rolg and Isadora Simoes de Souza. The conference took place in Porto, Portugal, and brought together advocates and activists from around the world to connect around a shared commitment to harm reduction.
Congratulations to Brent Staples of the New York Times for winning the Pulitzer for editorial writing.
We are honored to have worked with Mr. Staples on "Slandering the Unborn", which exposed the racist "crack baby" myth.
