PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In recent years, I have taken on the theme of 'criminalizing reproduction' - a natural theme for a Blog concerned with flawed science in its myriad forms - as I am utterly appalled by the current movement in the United States (and some other countries) emboldened by the overturning of Roe V Wade, towards imprisoning and conducting surveillance on women and their physicians and others who help them secure a safe abortion, on the basis of sham science (or any other basis). I can’t remember the source, but agree totally with the sentiment that control over their reproductive lives is far too important to women in America - or anywhere else - so they can participate equally in the economic and social life of their nations without fear for loss their freedom at the hands of political opportunists and fanatics. (Far too many of those those around these days.) '
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "That’s why I’m begging reporters covering the case of a Georgia woman charged with murder after allegedly using abortion medication to stop taking cops at their word."
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COMMENTARY: “Don’t Trust the Police in This Abortion Case,” by Jessica Valenti with Kylie Cheung, published by‘Abortion, Every Day,’ on March 20, 2026.
SUB-HEADING: “Don’t Trust Cops in Georgia Murder Case.”
GIST: “I can’t believe this needs to be said, but here we are: stop trusting what cops say about pregnancy-related arrests. Law enforcement lies all the time—especially in these cases, where mostly male cops and prosecutors know next to nothing about pregnancy and have every incentive to distort what happened.
I’ve seen police claim a 16-week fetus was an “infant.” I’ve seen them say a woman who flushed a miscarriage tried to “shove her baby down the toilet.”
When a Nebraska teenager was arrested for self-managing her abortion, police told the press she sent Facebook messages saying she “couldn’t wait to get the ‘thing’ out of her body.”
None of that was true, but every bit of it was reported as fact anyway.
That’s why I’m begging reporters covering the case of a Georgia woman charged with murder after allegedly using abortion medication to stop taking cops at their word.
Take the Associated Press—a wire service whose reporting is reprinted far and wide. The AP is one of the few quality national outlets that consistently reports on abortion, and they often do a fantastic job. But in this case, the powerful outlet not only unquestioningly repeated police claims, it published this wildly incendiary line:
“The police investigator obtaining the warrant wrote that Moore told the nursing staff: ‘I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die.’”
Let’s be straight about what this is: a cop saying that a nurse said that a woman said something. That is not a quote, and it’s certainly not something that should be attributed to this woman.
Truly, what’s the point of including this outside of making this woman appear callous? We know that’s the goal of the quote in the warrant.
Because let’s be clear: police and prosecutors, especially in anti-abortion states, are not objective. Their reports and charging documents are not neutral accounts of what happened—they’re specifically crafted to justify an arrest and secure a conviction. Reporters should treat them accordingly.
I understand this is an important story and that reporters need to do their jobs. But it’s not enough to note that information comes from law enforcement. We need journalists to include the broader context—and to remind readers that pregnancy-related accusations are often false, exaggerated, or (at the very least) questionable.
Even pointing to cases like Brittany Watts’—where an Ohio woman is now suing police and hospital staff for allegedly fabricating evidence—would be a fair but clear way to get the point across:
I’ll tell you why this is so important. Remember the Nebraska teen I mentioned at the top who supposedly said she couldn’t wait “to get the ‘thing’ out of her body”? Back when this case was happening, I pulled the court records and read her Facebook messages myself. That sentence didn’t appear once. It turns out it wasn’t something she said, but a police officer’s interpretation of the messages.
Yet that quote appeared in nearly every news story about her case. Why? Because the Associated Press printed it, and people trust the AP.
These stories matter. This coverage, online, is often forever. Let’s get it right the first time.”
The entire story can be read at:
https://jessica.substack.com/p/dont-trust-the-police-in-this-abortion
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan: Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
