NAPW's Work

Join Indra Lusero (Staff Attorney) and Kendall Bentsen (Organizer) from National Advocates for Pregnant Women, as they discuss the civil and human rights you have in the hospital during childbirth as well as the limitations of those rights in practice. This webinar includes an extensive Q&A session as well as an interactive quiz that will take you through the twists and turns of a birth experience in a hospital and test if you know your own birth rights.

Register Here!

Join Indra Lusero (Staff Attorney) and Kendall Bentsen (Organizer) from National Advocates for Pregnant Women, as they discuss the civil and human rights you have in the hospital during childbirth as well as the limitations of those rights in practice.

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.

Download PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS - Case of Chelsea Becker

Chelsea Becker Should Not Spend One More Day in Jail

On November 5, 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 scientific basis) was caused by her methamphetamine use during pregnancy.

The pandemic is exposing the harm done by the overregulation of certain medications people need as a matter of essential health. Join Amy J. Merrill (Digital Director at PlanC), Zachary C. Talbott (President of National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery) and Kendall Bentsen (Organizer at National Advocates for Pregnant Women) as they discuss how COVID-19 has highlighted barriers to accessing abortion pills for safe, self-managed abortions as well as MAT to treat substance use disorders.

After learning that Oklahoma Carter County District Attorney Craig Ladd is continuing to misuse his office to prosecute women who are pregnant and alleged to have used controlled substances, NAPW engaged local and national experts to call on district attorney Ladd to drop the charges.

NAPW recently sent a thank you letter to New York State Attorney General Letitia James to thank her for her efforts to ensure women across New York and the nation are able to access safe, legal abortions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health crisis as part of the multistate coalition of 21 attorneys general.

On April 10, NAPW and BRBA held a webinar discussion exploring the limits of individual rights during a public health crisis, how pregnancy and birth are uniquely affected by such limitations, and strategies for how people can advocate and be resilient in the face of inadequate and ineffective rights.