Pregnancy, parenthood, and prison: JLUSA leaders speak with Prism
by JLUSA
July 19, 2022
“Sometimes President and CEO of JustLeadershipUSA DeAnna Hoskins thinks about a pregnant woman she met almost 20 years ago while Hoskins was incarcerated. After jail administrators denied the woman’s request for an abortion, her family filed a lawsuit, arguing that the institution was denying her constitutional right to seek an abortion. The woman’s efforts were successful, but the suit reflects the considerable lengths many incarcerated pregnant people have to go to exercise any semblance of reproductive choice.
“‘I often think 20 years later, how would her life have been different had she been forced to have that baby?’ asked Hoskins.
“It’s a question that more pregnant people are going to be forced to answer with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent overturn of Roe v. Wade.”