Self-Care, Criminalized: The Criminalization of Self-Managed Abortion from 2000 to 2020

This resource was created by If/When/How.

'Self-Care, Criminalized: The Criminalization of Self-Managed Abortion from 2000 to 2020' aims to reduce the criminalization of self-managed abortion in the absence of Roe by examining and identifying trends in the criminalization that occurred in the presence of its protections. This report details the criminalization of 61 cases of people criminally investigated or arrested for allegedly ending their own pregnancy or helping someone else do so. From this research, we know more about who has been criminalized for self-managing an abortion, how these cases made their way into and through the criminal system, the laws and practices that enable criminalization, and what is at stake for the accused.