By Bob Katzen

The House sent to the Judiciary Committee a late-filed bill which would repeal a current law that provides that a parent who conceals the death of a child, “which if born alive would be a child born out of wedlock, so that it cannot be ascertained whether it was born alive or, if born alive, whether it was murdered, shall be punished by a fine of up to $100 or by imprisonment for up to one year.”

Sponsor Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa said the bill would repeal archaic laws criminalizing pregnancy by removing an outdated statute that can be used to criminalize unmarried women during one of the most traumatic experiences a person may face: pregnancy loss.

“This legislation would repeal a concealment of birth law that is more than a century old, written at a time when women were not yet recognized as full rights-bearing people and when giving birth outside of marriage carried deep social stigma,” said Sabadosa. “Today, the use of such laws to investigate or prosecute postpartum individuals is unjust and out of step with our modern understanding of reproductive health. There is no compelling reason for a statute like this to remain on the books.”