A thread: Today, the @NYTOpinion Editorial Board launches our 9-part series on personhood laws and the criminalization of pregnancy. Couldn't be prouder of this work, put together by an extraordinarily talented team. Please read it. (1/x)
The @nytimes ed board has been a longtime defender of abortion rights. In the past we've covered plans to decimate access to reproductive health care, curtail abortions at 20 weeks, the global & domestic gag rule, abstinence-only education + other pressing issues. (2/x)
Today's series focuses on how, to bolster their contention that a fetus should be recognized as a person, anti-abortion campaigners have won the passage of laws in Congress and in state capitals to assert the government’s right to protect a fetus as early as fertilization (3/x)
These laws have had perverse results, not just pitting the health of a fetus against that of a mother but, in some cases, overriding the mother’s rights entirely. (4/x)
Women who are suicidal, get in car accidents, fall down the stairs, refuse C-sections or go about their lives in ways perceived to harm their pregnancies have been detained and jailed for crimes, including murder, neglect, criminal recklessness and chemical endangerment. (5/x)
With Kavanugh on SCOTUS, it’s only a matter of time before women’s reproductive rights are further ratcheted back. This could curtail access to abortion but also birth control, IVF, even cancer treatments. America hasn't discussed properly the consequences of these changes. (6/x)
In addition to @NYTimes newsroom’s own excellent coverage, this project was aided immensely by local news outlets as well as @Rewire_News + @Propublica’s @ByNinaMartin. These are the journalistic heroes on this issue, covering it day in & out. Please support their work. (7/x)
Nor would it have been possible w/o the work of @napw + dedicated attorneys across the country who defend women's rights every day. Or scholars like @michelebgoodwin. Not to mention, members of the judiciary who recognize these cases for what they are — unconstitutional. (8/x)
Finally, we need to thank and honor the women and their families whose stories we’ve told. They were a constant reminder that the government can do more, should do more, to protect American families -- and that every vote matters in this country. Thank you for reading. (9/9)
