From Georgia to California, some states have investigated pregnancy loss like miscarriages and stillbirths as crimes. Researchers and experts say this kind of criminal suspicion has increased since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. ✍️: Cary Aspinwall & 🎥: Chris Vazquez / The Marshall Project Transcript: POLICE IN SOUTHERN GEORGIA: We arrested a 24-year-old woman who had a miscarriage under a state law that makes it a crime to conceal a dead body THE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I dropped those charges. SOME LEGAL EXPERTS: The arrest is an example of criminal suspicion around pregnancy loss in many states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. FEDERAL DATA: About 20% of pregnancies end in a loss, but only a small number are investigated as crimes. AN ADVOCACY GROUP FOR PREGNANT PEOPLE: But our researchers found that prosecutions related to pregnancy appear to have increased since the end of Roe. CHRIS VAZQUEZ: The way a person handles pregnancy loss — and where it happens — can mean the difference between a private medical issue and a criminal charge. ARKANSAS: Here, it can be a crime to conceal a birth or stillbirth. These kinds of laws were used in the 17th century to shame women who were pregnant and unmarried. ALABAMA: Researchers found that in the first year after Roe was overturned, nearly half of all prosecutions came from us. ALABAMA, CALIFORNIA, OKLAHOMA AND SOUTH CAROLINA: And we’ve all prosecuted people over pregnancy loss. CALIFORNIA: We have a law banning those kinds of prosecutions now. But before that, two women served jail time related to stillbirths. SOUTH CAROLINA: We were the first state to prosecute someone for a stillbirth allegedly due to drug use. Since then, we’ve prosecuted at least 200 women in similar cases. OHIO: And it’s not just about drug use. Our abuse of a corpse law could be interpreted pretty broadly if it’s applied to fetal remains, like it was in a 2023 case.