This section from a broader guide from Pregnancy Justice offers practical advice on how and why clinicians should avoid screening and surveillance practices that have long contributed to the criminalization of pregnant people, particularly those who are BIPOC or members of other marginalized groups. Research has long demonstrated that health care providers are one of the primary agents of entangling pregnant people in law enforcement and family policing systems, whether for alleged substance use, alleged self-managed abortion, or simply for exercising their right to refuse medical interventions.  In a time of rapidly proliferating laws targeting reproductive autonomy, it is more vital than ever that clinicians question their screening practices (many of them unconsented or coercively consented) and their relationships with law enforcement and other agencies. 

Also check out RHEDI’s interactive module, Criminalizing Pregnancy, from our larger Justice & SRH Unit.