Prosecutor Warns Women in West Viriginia Could be Charged for Miscarriages

A county prosecutor in West Virginia warned that women who miscarry could potentially face criminal charges under state laws related to the disposal of human remains.

The Details: Tom Truman, the Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney, told local news outlet WVNS 59 (Center bias) that while he is personally opposed to such prosecutions, he heard other prosecuting attorneys discuss their willingness "to file criminal charges against women in pregnancy loss situations by using state law related to the disposal of human remains," a few years before Roe v. Wade was overturned. Truman advised women in West Virginia to protect themselves by immediately notifying the relevant county prosecuting attorney's office or law enforcement when a miscarriage occurs.

For Context: Although West Virginia bans virtually all abortions, its ban does not penalize abortion patients but instead people who provide the procedure.

How The Media Covered It: Truman's comments were not covered by any outlets on the right at the time of this writing. Snopes (Lean Left bias) clarified that Truman's comments had been misunderstood on social media and that he was speaking in hypotheticals, not outlining any active plans to prosecute women for miscarriages. "Several reproductive law experts say people around the country have, indeed, faced charges related to miscarriages — but they still wouldn’t recommend reaching out to law enforcement," a CNN (Lean Left) piece said. Newsweek (Center) said "Kulsoom Ijaz, senior policy counsel at advocacy group Pregnancy Justice told Newsweek that there was no basis for such charges to be levied," but added that women in Georgia and Texas have faced charges for miscarrying earlier this year. 

Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Support our mission.