Law enforcement and elected officials attempt to punish and police women who use drugs while pregnant under the guise of "fetal rights." The premise of "fetal rights is that the fetus has equal rights or greater rights than the pregnant women."

This allows for the government to have final say in how a women conducts herself while pregnant. For example, Alabama adopts the Chemical Endangerment Law in 2000. However, reproductive justice organizers fight back via legislative and political strategies in order to counter the criminalization of women and anti-abortion politics.