California women being charged with murder for stillborn births

In 2018 the State of California found Adora Perez guilty of manslaughter for the death of her stillborn baby and jailed her for four years. In 2019, another grieving mother was also accused of murder for her stillborn baby.

The Cut writes, “Perez could easily have spent 11 years incarcerated if another woman had not been charged under nearly identical circumstances. In November 2019, Chelsea Becker was charged with murder by the same district attorney after using methamphetamines and delivering a stillborn child at the same hospital as Perez. Becker’s case made national headlines, and in investigating her story, a Los Angeles Times reporter stumbled across Perez’s case and brought it to the attention of reproductive-rights advocates who arranged pro bono legal representation for her.”

Both women are free today, but women’s rights advocates worry that charges for similar losses could multiply if Roe v. Wade is no longer available to protect other women who lose babies – or who voluntarily choose to terminate pregnancies.

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