NAPW provides a unique and base-broadening perspective on anti-abortion legislation, including laws that seek to establish separate status for fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses. As a result, allies often ask (typically at the very last minute) for our analysis of proposed legislation that on the surface appears to impact only access to abortion or to have no impact on pregnant people at all.
NAPW’S Analysis of South Carolina S.1 and Mississippi HB 755
A National Call for Birth Justice and Accountability. How many Black, Brown, and Indigenous people have to die giving birth?
In July 2020, NAPW joined numerous allies including Ancient Song Doula Services and Black Mammas Matter in signing an open letter that served as a national call for birth justice and accountability. NAPW knows that just as police misuse their authority against Black, Brown, and Indigenous people on the streets, they also do so in hospitals and delivery rooms and with the assistance of health care professionals.
NAPW Statement: The Fight to Free Chelsea Becker Continues: How the San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, New York Post, and Other Media Outlets Got It Wrong
On December 24, 2020, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article that included incorrect and dangerously misleading information about a recent California Supreme Court order in Chelsea Becker’s case. The article erroneously reported, “Court refuses to bar woman’s murder prosecution for death of fetus, a loss for Becerra.
(UPDATE) NAPW Files Amicus Brief in Wyoming Supreme Court Challenging Criminal Charges Based on Pregnancy
This week, National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW), with local counsel Megan Hayes, filed an amicus brief in the Wyoming Supreme Court on behalf of thirteen experts in and advocates for maternal, infant, and child health in support of Leigha Stewart.
Amicus Briefs Filed in Support of Rinat Dray in Her Ongoing Fight For Justice
Last week, National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) filed an amicus brief (“friend of the court”) in support of Rinat Dray in her ongoing fight for justice following unconsented and forced cesarean surgery at Northwell Health’s Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH).
Since 1914, New York State Courts have recognized that “Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body.
Webinar: CHOICES: Offering Abortion & Birth Services Under One Roof
People who have abortions and people who give birth are often the same people, just at different points of their lives. So why are abortion services and birth services kept so separated? In a radical act of expansion, CHOICES has become the first non-profit health care provider in the county to offer both birth services and abortion care under one roof.
Webinar: Black Birth Matters: The Case for More Midwives (NAPW Student Series)
The U.S. is experiencing a Black Maternal Mortality Crisis, where 1 in 4 women of color report mistreatment during birth. In this webinar Efe Osaren, a Nigerian-American Student Midwife, Full Spectrum Doula and Reproductive/Birth Justice Advocate discusses real solutions, shares the joys of home birth midwifery, and answers 77 questions from students.
Amy Coney Barrett’s Views Threaten All People With the Capacity for Pregnancy, Including Anti-Abortion Mothers Like Her
Call Your Senators and Tell Them to Oppose Barrett's Confirmation
In 2006, President Trump’s nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Amy Coney Barrett, signed an advertisement announcing a commitment not only to ending abortion but also to defending “the right to life from the moment of fertilization until natural death.
Victory for Latice Fisher in Mississippi
Victory for Latice Fisher in Mississippi
In Mississippi, Latice Fisher was charged with second degree murder after she experienced a pregnancy loss at home. She reached out to NAPW directly asking for help, and we responded immediately. We quickly joined forces with Laurie Bertram Roberts of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund and Color of Change to help get Ms. Fisher’s bail lowered and released from jail and to put pressure on the prosecutor, Scott Colom, to drop the charge.
NAPW News Release: California Attorney General Xavier Becerra Concludes that Experiencing a Stillbirth is Not the Same as Murder and Supports Court Petition to Free Chelsea Becker
Chelsea Becker remains in Kings County jail charged with murder under California Penal Code §187 for having a stillbirth
On Friday, August 7, 2020, 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.