Police Brutality & Civil Rights
Assault on Pregnant Individuals
2 statutes with plain-language summaries, case relevance, source links, and related Michigan practice areas.
Assault on Pregnant Individuals
2 statutes"A person who intentionally or knowingly causes a miscarriage or stillbirth of a pregnant individual, or causes the death of an embryo or fetus, by committing a criminal act against the pregnant individual is guilty of a crime under this chapter."Read Full Statute
Michigan's Prenatal Protection Act (Laci and Conner's Law) creates a separate criminal offense for assault causing a miscarriage or stillbirth. When police violence against a pregnant woman causes the loss of a pregnancy, criminal charges under this statute may run parallel to a civil rights claim.
Police brutality against pregnant women can cause catastrophic harm that goes beyond the physical injuries to the mother. The criminal statute reflects the seriousness of this harm and supports substantial civil damages claims.
We pursue full damages for pregnancy loss caused by police violence, including the emotional devastation of losing a child due to government misconduct, alongside the mother's physical injury claims.
"A person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of a crime punishable under the applicable subsection: (a) A person who commits an act proscribed under this chapter against a pregnant individual and thereby causes a miscarriage or stillbirth of that individual, or causes the death or serious physical harm of an embryo or fetus... [graduated offenses by trimester and severity of harm]."Read Full Statute
These sections of Michigan's Prenatal Protection Act criminalize causing bodily injury to an embryo or fetus at various stages of development through assault. The statutes establish graded penalties based on the severity of harm — from injury to death — and the stage of development of the unborn child.
When police violence causes injury to an unborn child — from first trimester through near-term pregnancy — criminal charges under these statutes may arise, and the findings support civil damages claims for the mother and the child's estate in the most serious cases.
We pursue all available civil remedies in police misconduct cases involving harm to pregnant women and their unborn children, using the criminal statute framework to establish the full scope of the harm caused.