In recent years, the United States has witnessed a dramatic rise in the criminalization of pregnancy outcomes, with women facing prosecution over miscarriages, stillbirths, and abortions—sometimes even decades after the fact. The chilling trend, once rare and largely confined to certain states, has now become a nationwide phenomenon, with implications that reach far beyond the courtroom and into the heart of the country’s ongoing debate over reproductive rights.
The tragic killing of India Kinamore in Colerain Township, Ohio, in March 2023, stands as a stark example of how the intersection of pregnancy, personal relationships, and the law can have devastating consequences. According to Shine My Crown, on the early morning of March 4, 2023, 26-year-old Kinamore—who was in the late stages of pregnancy and scheduled for labor induction that very day—was found dead in her home, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Her unborn child also died. Kinamore’s 6-year-old son, present in the home at the time, called family members for help after the shooting, a detail that underscores the horror and trauma inflicted on the family.
Nearly two years after the crime, on August 22, 2025, police announced the arrest of three men: Robert Ervin, 20; Kayvon Warren, 30; and Lamar Morris Suggs, 22. Each faces two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Kinamore and her unborn child. Prosecutors allege that Warren, who had been in a relationship with Kinamore, pressured her to end her pregnancy. When she refused, they claim, he conspired with Ervin and Suggs to kill her. The case, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney David Hickenlooper told the court, took nearly two years to build, relying on extensive cell phone communications and video evidence that placed the defendants at or near the crime scene.
“It would seem this defendant and his co-defendants were conspiring to come up with this plan to kill Miss Kinamore and her unborn child,” Hickenlooper said at the arraignment. Defense attorneys pushed back, with Warren’s lawyer, Clyde Bennett, insisting that his client “wanted the child” and had cooperated with investigators. “He knew he was wanted for murder. He didn’t flee the jurisdiction,” Bennett argued. Ervin’s attorney, meanwhile, claimed his client was guilty only by association, but prosecutors countered that phone and location records tied Ervin and his vehicle to the crime.
Suggs, the third defendant, is already serving time at the Ohio Department of Corrections for an unrelated weapons charge. During the arraignment, Kinamore’s mother, Terri, made an emotional plea for justice, urging the judge to impose a high bond. “They were in a relationship. He killed his own son or plotted to kill his own son,” she said, referring to Warren. The judge ultimately set bond at $300,000 on each charge for Warren and Ervin, and both remain in custody at the Hamilton County Justice Center. For Kinamore’s family and community, the arrests mark a significant—if belated—step toward accountability in a case that has haunted them for nearly two years.
While the Kinamore case is shocking in its violence, it also highlights a broader and more insidious trend: the increasing willingness of the state to treat pregnancy outcomes as matters for criminal investigation and prosecution. According to Slate’s Amicus podcast, women have been prosecuted for miscarriages and stillbirths even before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but these prosecutions have ramped up dramatically since that landmark decision was struck down in 2022. The stakes are rising as well, with legislators in various states introducing bills that would treat abortion as homicide—potentially even subjecting patients to the death penalty.
Karen Thompson, legal director of Pregnancy Justice, explained on Amicus that as fetal personhood legislation gains traction in more red states, the concept is also seeping into blue states. This has led to women being jailed simply because their pregnancies ended in ways the state disapproved of. In some cases, grandmothers have been prosecuted decades after a pregnancy loss, thanks to advances in forensic genetic genealogy. Thompson warned, “A frightening frontier in the battle for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights is here, and it demands our attention.”
Perhaps nowhere is this new legal landscape more evident than in Texas. In April 2022, Lizelle Gonzalez was arrested on murder charges for taking medication to end her pregnancy. According to The Independent, Gonzalez was released two days later after posting a $500,000 bond, and the charges were dropped on April 11, 2022—just four days after her arrest. The swift reversal came after public outcry and numerous emails alerting officials that the murder charge was unlawful under Texas law, which clearly prohibits the criminal prosecution of pregnant women for conduct that ends their pregnancies. Instead, Texas law targets physicians and those who assist with abortions.
Gonzalez later filed a civil complaint against Starr County officials, alleging her constitutional rights were violated by the wrongful arrest and prosecution. Evidence presented in court revealed a coordinated effort between the Starr County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office to violate her rights. District Attorney Gocha Ramirez admitted in private messages that he had made a grave error, at one point texting his son, “I f***** up.” He further told Gonzalez in person, “I may pay the consequences with my career but once I realized this injustice, I had to make it right.” The Texas Bar ultimately punished Ramirez with a fine and a one-year probated suspension for pursuing an unlawful indictment.
Gonzalez’s attorney, Cecilia Garza, did not mince words: “Lizelle Gonzalez’s highly personal decision regarding her pregnancy was not, and never has been, a criminal matter—yet the Starr County district attorney, his assistant district attorneys, the Starr County Sheriff’s Office ignored the clear language of the Texas homicide statute and long-standing law to wrongly charge her with murder.”
Texas is one of at least 12 states that have banned abortion in nearly all circumstances since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, according to The New York Times’ abortion law tracker. The trend is not limited to red states, as similar prosecutions and legislative efforts have been noted in more liberal states as well. The expansion of fetal personhood laws, combined with aggressive prosecution, has created a climate of fear and uncertainty for pregnant women across the country.
As the legal and political battles over reproductive rights continue to play out, the personal stories of women like India Kinamore and Lizelle Gonzalez serve as powerful reminders of what is at stake. The growing criminalization of pregnancy outcomes has far-reaching implications—not just for those who find themselves in the crosshairs of the justice system, but for the broader principles of bodily autonomy and individual liberty.
With courts, legislatures, and advocacy groups locked in a high-stakes struggle, the future of reproductive rights in America remains deeply uncertain. But what is clear is that the consequences of these legal battles are being felt in homes and communities across the nation, sometimes with tragic and irreversible results.
