The following statement can be attributed to Gail Deady, the ACLU of Virginia's The Secular Society Women’s Rights Legal Fellow, in response to the recent news reports of a Chesterfield woman, Michelle F. Roberts, who is facing a felony charge of producing an abortion or miscarriage during the third trimester of her pregnancy.
“No woman should fear arrest or jail for ending her own pregnancy or for pregnancy loss. The particular law implicated in this case does not apply to a pregnant woman — it applies to third parties only.
“It is unclear from the questionable, selective release of information by the Chesterfield police exactly what happened here, but it appears that this is another example of overreach and targeting of a pregnant woman in an attempt to shame and punish her for her circumstances.”
