Misbehaving Mothers: The Criminalization of Pregnant Women

“I am not free

While any woman is unfree

Even when her shackles

Are different from my own”

-Audrey Lorde

A bright-eyed African American baby boy stares into the world with a look of terror. “Black Children Are an Endangered Species,” the accompanying caption declares. The creator of this billboard, TooManyAborted.com, went on to create another which read “Choice, Kills Those Without One.” Yet, there is no indication that mothers like Martina Greywind or Regina McKnight ever had a choice.

Martina Greywind was twenty-eight, Native American, homeless, drug-addicted, and twelve weeks pregnant. She was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment for inhaling paint fumes and causing a risk of serious injury or death to her unborn baby. Ms. Greywind was released on bond and, nine hours following her release, she was found sniffing paint again. In lieu of jail time, Ms. Greywind’s attorney reached an agreement with the state that allowed for her to be released on the condition that she seek a medical/psychological appointment the next day. Consequently, Ms. Greywind elected to undergo a medical procedure: an abortion. Her attorney filed to dismiss the wreckless endangerment charges, and the state determined that her prosecution was “no longer worth the time or expense…”

On the other hand, Regina McKnight, was twenty two, African American, homeless, mentally handicapped, drug addicted, and pregnant. When Ms. McKnight delivered her baby, the infant was stillborn. Unlike the thousands of other women who are comforted after this devastating experience, Ms. McKnight was villainized and ultimately shackled and arrested. Ms. McKnight was charged with a felony: homicide. Doctors who testified at trial could not say, definitively, that Ms. McKnight’s drug use was the cause of the infant’s death. Nevertheless, a jury deliberated for fifteen minutes before finding that Ms. McKnight was guilty of depraved heart murder. Ms. McKnight, who had no prior arrest history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

Now, I dare not delve into the moral discussion that has plagued this country when discussing "misbehaving mothers." Instead, I seek to address the recent trend of criminalizing pregnant women.

In many states throughout the United States, lawmakers have begun passing Fetal Protection Laws that specifically criminalize behaviors found to be unsuitable for pregnant women.Fetal Protection Laws have been heavily debated under names such as the Fetal Protection Act, the Preborn Victims of Violence Act, and the Unborn Victim of Violence Act. The central claim in support of this trend is two-fold. Supporters declare that:

1) the fetus should be protected; and

2) this protection of the fetus is for the greater good.

Now, I'd like to point out the hypocrisy in these claims where individuals make declarations that they seek to protect the children. Angela Davis told us long ago,

“Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings.”

Resistance to criminalizing these women has also received overwhelming support from those in the medical community. The medical community has made legislators and state actors aware that these laws do not help to provide positive results for the mother, child, or society. Instead these laws often make pregnant women avoid prenatal treatment altogether by engendering overwhelming feelings of vulnerability: Will I be judged by the medical staff? Will I be forced to take a drug test? If it’s positive, will I have to go to prison? Will they take my baby?

Nonetheless, lawmakers have insisted on the enforcement of laws that criminalize pregnant women. This begs to question, why? If these lawmakers are seeking to protect the "child", why have they ignored the medical community’s recommendations? Why have they failed to invest in treatment programs for those with addictions? Why haven’t they urged obstetricians to respect women’s decisions to terminate and to provide a more welcoming environment?

The answer is simple. These lawmakers and organizations have failed to see the humanity in these women. This can be evidenced by the countless women forced to give birth while their arms and legs are in shackles. These lawmakers see nothing more than poor, often minority, drug-users who are undeserving of freedom and who lack the capacity to love. The video below challenges those assumptions.

The video below shows the story of Trena Walker, her pregnancy, and her struggle with addiction. Thankfully, with the help and support that lawmakers have failed to provide to others, Trena was able to avoid the fate of imprisonment that so many other "misbehaving mothers" face.

These "misbehaving mothers" are deserving of our humanity.

Please check out the following links for more information:

http://sistersong.net/reproductive-justice/

https://www.trustblackwomen.org/our-work/what-is-reproductive-justice/9-what-is-reproductive-justice