THIS BILL
AB 2223 will ensure that no one in the State of
California will be investigated, prosecuted, or
incarcerated for ending a pregnancy or
experiencing pregnancy loss.
THE ISSUE
Reproductive justice is a framework created by
Black women in 1994 to address the
intersectional and multifactored issues that
women of color and their families face in
society. At the core of reproductive justice is
the belief in the right to bodily autonomy; the
right to have children; the right not to have
children; and the right to parent the children we
have with dignity and respect, in safe and
sustainable communities. A critical part of
realizing reproductive justice for people in
California is clarifying that nobody will be
investigated, prosecuted, or incarcerated for
their actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy
outcomes.
In the past two decades, at least 1,300 pregnant
people have been criminally prosecuted for
having miscarriages or stillbirths, or self-
1 See, e.g., Paltrow & Flavin, Arrests of and Forced Interventions on Pregnant Women in the United States, 1973–2005: Implications for Women's Legal Status and Public Health, 38 J. Health Pol., Pol’y, & L. 299 (Apr. 2013); Martin, Take a Valium, Lose Your Kid, Go to Jail: In Alabama, Anti-Drug Fervor and Abortion Politics Have Turned a Meth-Lab Law into the Country's Harshest Weapon Against Pregnant Women, ProPublica, (Sept. 23, 2015); Bach, Prosecuting Poverty, Criminalizing Care, 60 Wm. & Mary L.
Rev. 809 (2019); Diaz-Tello et al., If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice, Roe’s Unfinished Promise: Decriminalizing Abortion Once and For All (2019). 2 Alex Wigglesworth, With woman in prison for stillbirth, California’s murder law is tested, Los Angeles Times (Dec. 16, 2020).
3 E.g., Pruitt et al. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Fetal Deaths — United States, 2015–2017, 69 MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 1277 (2020).
4 See Hinton et al., Vera Institute of Justice Evidence Brief, An Unjust Burden: The Disparate Treatment of Black Americans in the Criminal Justice System (May 2018); Bridges, Privacy Rights and Public Families, 34 Harvard J. L. & Gender 113 (2011); Children’s Bureau, U.S. D ept. of Health & Human Servs., Child Welfare Practice to Address Racial Disproportionality and Disparity (April 2021). managing an abortion.1 California has not been
exempt: despite clear law that ending or losing
a pregnancy is not a crime, prosecutors have
charged people with homicide offenses for
pregnancy losses.2
In California, this misuse of state power is
partly traceable to out-of-date provisions that
give coroners a duty to investigate certain
abortions and pregnancy losses. Based on these
provisions, health care providers and
institutions report people who have just given
birth, had an abortion, or experienced a
pregnancy loss to police, triggering harmful
investigations and even unlawful prosecutions.
This threat of criminal prosecutions has a
harmful effect on individual and public health,
because people who fear prosecution due to
their health issues are deterred from seeking
care. This is a critical issue for Black,
Indigenous, and other people of color, who are
more likely to experience adverse pregnancy
outcomes as a result of systemic racial
inequities3 and also more likely to be under
scrutiny of punitive state systems.4 It is also a
concern for immigrants, queer and trans people,
young people, and others who may self-manage
Assembly Bill 2223
Decriminalization of Abortion and Pregnancy Loss
Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (AD-15)
abortions because care in formal medical
systems is inaccessible.
Worse, there is frequently no recourse for
people who have been harmed by the legal
system as a result of their pregnancy loss or
self-managed abortion. California’s
Reproductive Privacy Act provides a guarantee
to a right to make reproductive decisions, but
does not provide avenues for redress for people
who are denied these rights.
Finally, states hostile to abortion rights are
attempting to impose criminal or civil penalties
on people who assist others in obtaining an
abortion. Californians must be able to support
friends, community members, and loved ones
with their abortion without being investigated,
arrested, or prosecuted.
SOLUTION
AB 2223 protects reproductive freedom by
clarifying that the Reproductive Privacy Act
prohibits pregnancy criminalization, and
creates a private right of action for people
whose rights have been violated to seek
accountability using civil courts.
This bill would also remove outdated
provisions requiring coroners to investigate
certain pregnancy losses, and ensure that
information collected about pregnancy loss is
not used to target people through criminal or
civil legal systems.
SUPPORT
ACLU California Action (Co-Sponsor)
Black Women for Wellness Action Project
(Co-Sponsor)
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
(Co-Sponsor)
If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive
Justice (Co-Sponsor)
NARAL Pro-Choice California (Co-Sponsor)
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
(Co-Sponsor)
ACCESS Reproductive Justice
American Association of University Women
American Atheists
American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists District IX
Asian Americans Advancing Justice –
California
Attorney General Rob Bonta
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
California Legislative Women’s Caucus
California for Safety and Justice
California Nurses Association
California Nurse Midwives Association
California Medical Association
California State Controller
California Women’s Law Center
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Catholics for Choice
City of Los Angeles
Courage California
Culver City Democratic Club
Disability Rights California
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Fund Her
Initiate Justice
League of Women Voters of California
National Center for Youth Law
National Health Law Program
Nevada County Citizens for Choice
Office of the Lieutenant Governor Eleni
Kounalakis
Physicians for Reproductive Health
Public Health Advocates
San Francisco City Attorney’s Office
San Francisco District Attorney’s Office
Smart Justice California
Stronger Women United
Survived & Punished
Tides Advocacy
University of California
URGE: United for Reproductive & Gender
Equity
Voices for Progress Education Fund
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Women’s Foundation California
Women’s Health Specialists
CONTACT
Samantha Huynh
Office of Assemblymember Buffy Wicks
[email protected]
(916) 319-2015