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Brief: The Dangers of Granting Legal Rights to Fetuses, Embryos, and Fertilized Eggs
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Anti-abortion extremists have worked for decades to incorporate fetal personhood ideology into different areas of law in their efforts to restrict or ban various types of reproductive healthcare, particularly abortion care. As fetal personhood increasingly influences judicial decisions, laws, statutes, and state constitutional amendments, it will continue to lead to criminal prosecutions of pregnant people, forced medical interventions during pregnancy, limiting access to contraceptives, threats to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), and denials to life-saving health care.
**This brief provides information about anti-abortion strategy of incorporating fetal personhood ideology into different areas of law, the language to look out for in bills introduced in your state legislature, and messaging that can be used to combat these bills.**