The Crisis of Bodily Autonomy in America

Something is happening that we all need to pay attention to. Across the country women continue to lose the ability to make decisions about their own bodies in increasingly horrific and dystopian ways. And in the past few months, three women's stories reveal a crisis that we can no longer ignore.

Tell your representatives that pregnant women have the right to make their own medical decisions — and that criminalizing those decisions must stop.

Forced Medical Procedures and Court-Ordered Births

In Florida, two Black mothers lived something out of a science fiction novel. Cherise Doyley, a mother of three, was 12 hours into active labor when a tablet appeared at her hospital bed — she was in court. No lawyer, no advocate, no time to prepare. The state had filed an emergency petition for her unborn child, not for her. The judge forced a C-section she had explicitly refused. It sent her into postpartum depression.

Brianna Bennett faced the same thing at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in March 2023. After 24 hours of labor, with no lawyer or advocate, a court ordered her into a C-section. The procedure was complicated, left her with a wound vacuum, and came with warnings against future pregnancies.

Demand that our elected leaders ensure federal protection of pregnant women's right to make their own medical decisions — and an end to prosecuting women for pregnancy outcomes.

The Criminalization of Pregnancy Outcomes

Alexia Moore — a 31-year-old U.S. Army veteran and mother of two from Kingsland, Georgia — was charged with murder after being brought to the hospital in extreme pain. The hospital alleges that she consumed abortion medication. In what would be one of the first prosecutions under the state's 2019 anti-abortion law, this case should shock us all. Even the Superior Court judge who set her bond at $1 called the charge "extremely problematic" and added “concerns that the state would ever be able to secure a conviction." She served her country, came home, raised her boys, and found herself in a desperate situation with no safe options. For that, she was sent to jail.

Demand that Congress protect what should never have needed protecting: a pregnant woman's right to make decisions about her own body, free from the threat of courtrooms, punishment, or jail!

These three cases are not accidents. They are the result of laws that treat pregnant women as less than full humans — laws that force the government into decisions that belong between a woman and her doctor at the most vulnerable moments of her life. These women were mothers. They were informed. They were doing their best. And still, the system failed them.

The question is simple: Should the government have the power to overrule a woman's medical decisions about her own body?

If your answer is no, it's time to say so out loud — to the people you elected to represent you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a judge legally force a woman to have a C-section?
While medical ethics generally prioritize patient autonomy, some states use emergency petitions to grant "personhood" status to fetuses, allowing courts to overrule a mother's refusal of medical procedures.

What is the risk of criminalizing pregnancy outcomes?
Criminalization discourages women from seeking life-saving health care for fear of prosecution. This particularly impacts Black mothers, who already face higher rates of maternal mortality and medical bias.

How does federal law currently protect reproductive freedom?
Currently, protections are a patchwork of state laws. Advocates are pushing for federal legislation to ensure that no woman is jailed for her pregnancy outcomes or forced into medical procedures against her will.

References

• She Was in Labor at a Florida Hospital. Then She Was in Zoom Court for Refusing a C-Section.
• They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth.
• Woman charged with attempted murder under Georgia abortion law
• Judge sets $1 bail for Georgia woman charged with murder for taking abortion pills

This article discusses the urgent need for federal protection against the criminalization of pregnancy outcomes and forced medical interventions for pregnant women.