I didn’t know that I was pregnant before my fetal death. Prosecutors still accused me of a crime. – Mother Jones

Mother Jones illustration; Getty

Prohibit the State Abortion criminalizes suppliers, not patients. But the 2022 ruling of the Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade However, he seems to be emboldened to local prosecutors to attack pregnant people for alleged crimes such as “endangering” or “abuse” of their fetus. In the year after the ruling of the Supreme Court, investigators of the non -profit legal justice documented At least 210 cases in 12 states in which pregnant people faced criminal charges for behavior associated with their pregnancy, fetal death, spontaneous abortion or birth, more than in any other year since they began counting.

Now, in President Donald Trump’s second term, empowered anti -abortion politicians are pressing more explicit efforts to punish pregnant people for how they finish their pregnancies. Only since the beginning of the year, legislators in Indiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolinaand Texas They have announced invoices to classify abortion as homicide, paving the way for abortion patients to be accused of murder. “Even when the position is murder, the provisions of this section will apply if the victim is an unborn child and the defendant is the child’s mother,” says the bill in Oklahoma. Trump, meanwhile, has issued a Executive order That defines the sex of a person as starting “in conception.” In doing so, Lawyers for pregnant people say He is opening the door to federal agencies to treat embryos and fetuses as people with complete legal rights, which potentially endangers the rights and freedoms of pregnant persons.

Catherine, a 31 -year -old woman from Alabama, is one of the women criminalized for a charge related to pregnancy after Roe v. Wade He was revoked. He had a fetal dead at home in 2021, and when he went to the hospital for emergency medical care, it was discovered that he had a controlled substance in his system. Two years later, her local prosecutor accused her of “chemical danger” of his “unborn son.” But the evidence showed that Catherine never knew she was pregnant, according to Justice about pregnancy Senior Personal Lawyer Emma Roth, and the charges were dismissed in early 2024.

When Catherine and I talked in Zoom at the beginning of January, a few centimeters of snow had covered the ground in the city where she has lived all her life, and it was full in a pink sweatshirt that said: “God is still writing your story. He stops trying to steal the pen. “She is sharing her experience publicly, for the first time, so that people who are facing similar positions know that they are not alone. Her story has been edited and condensed.

I was rolling Around pain and I didn’t know what was happening.

I was at home, lying on the bed, going and coming to the bathroom. I was thinking that I was very constipated, at a dangerous level, because I was only eating fried foods from the restaurant in which I was working. I could not pay the groceries.

I went to the bathroom, waiting for me to feel better. And then I found myself on the floor holding my baby, surrounded by blood.

It was a devastating world.

I never knew that she was pregnant. My body never showed signs. I never gained weight. I felt completely normal.

I was confused, lost and in a state of shock, absolute surprise. I called 911. Then I sat there, waiting. The EMT and at least one policeman arrived. They took her out of my arms and took her down the stairs. Then they put me on a stretcher and took me to the hospital.

There were nurses and doctors around me, trying to ask me all kinds of questions. I remember them by pushing about my stomach. There was a policeman who simply stayed and a group of investigators. I do not remember the questions, only that they made me feel very insecure and not sure and raped. They took my phone. The nurses asked me for my password.

The doctor came in and asked me if I knew what was in my system. Yes, I did. Addiction is deadly, and is a vicious circle that catches so many people. I was one of those people. It was a cycle of fleeing a feeling that I was trying to cover the substance. A lot of emotions that did not know how to drive, and a temporary solution that became the only problem.

When they gave me the hand of the hospital, the decision to live with my parents was made. Everything changed: my circle, my friends, my atmosphere, my attitude. I returned to the restaurant, but not for a long time. Anyway, they were not paying enough, so I changed to manufacture. And I renounced, cold turkey. I had this stubborn mentality: I can do it alone. I began to go to church, and Jesus is where the rest of my support system came from.

The pain was something I had to learn, learn to answer. I called her when we were configuring the funeral: Isabella Grace. I could never see her again. But I know exactly where it is now. She is there with my grandparents. She has taken care of. She is there playing with other children, children like her.

It was a long time fight. Some days, it was an hour at the same time. But I could spend my days.

It was two years later that they pressed charges. I was starting to live again. Then, the Local Police knocked on my door, in my parents’ house, a Sunday morning, when I was preparing for the church. The officer told me he was being accused.

I was panic. I didn’t expect it to be, I guess. I was thinking But I didn’t know she was pregnant. I was afraid that Alabama was Alabama; There have been so many stories of dirty people in these systems that simply throw women into jail. I wondered, Why did they wait so long?

They took me to jail and reserved me, but I rescued shortly after, I had the money to do that. I went home and began to talk to people, investigating, and then a family friend sent me to the justice of pregnancy.

They took care of everything. I thought I was going to have to go to court several times, but ended up being differently. A few months passed before the case was dismissed. When I heard that news, it was the greatest weight of my shoulders. I could breathe.

It felt as if I could finally move on, and advance to the next step in my life: happiness. I married last December. He has children, my additional children. I am slowly getting into higher positions in my work. I am working towards something.

There is not a day that passes where I would not be able to hold my son, nor a day that he would not want to experience his milestones. How to play in the snow, because we have no snow very often, but we did it today. We have already been outside once, and I hit my husband with some snowballs.

Being able to tell my story is also how the next step is seen in my life. It is something that I wanted to do. I knew it was going to be difficult. He knew there would be moments when he would cry and contain tears. But I want to tell my story to help women know that they are not alone, and that they do not have to go through these things thinking that it is the absolute end of the world. Even if she is just a woman, a person, I want to make sure they do not feel ashamed of something that is out of control.