Pregnancy Justice, an advocacy group based in New York, filed an application with the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Thursday asking it to put a stop to the prosecution of women who use medical marijuana during their pregnancies.
"Being pregnant doesn't automatically exclude you from the protections of laws, and prosecutors cannot rewrite laws or charge people simple because they dislike certain behaviors," said Lourdes A. Rivera, the organization's president.
In a press release, the group said Oklahoma’s Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act, which went into effect in 2019, legalized medical marijuana for all adults with valid licenses from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.
Despite this, reporting from The Frontier found at least eight Oklahoma women with state-issued medical marijuana cards have been charged with felony child neglect for using marijuana during their pregnancies since 2019.
This charge comes with the potential of a life sentence.
