Press Call: Maternal Health Advocates to Challenge Wisconsin Law That Tramples Pregnant Women’s Rights

On December 11, the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, the Carr Center for Reproductive Justice, and Perkins Coie hosted a teleconference on the dangers of allowing states to detain pregnant women under harmful laws.

This past summer, Wisconsin resident Tamara Loerstcher sought help at a local hospital after she began self-medicating for depression and a thyroid problem. After discovering Loerstcher was 14 weeks pregnant, hospital workers had her jailed. On December 11, the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, the Carr Center for Reproductive Justice, and Perkins Coie hosted a teleconference to share her story and announce their plans to file a civil rights complaint in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Wisconsin law “that deprives pregnant women of their personhood and human dignity, and puts their health at risk.”