Surveilling the Digital Abortion Diary Applied Feminism and Privacy Conference of 2020 50 University of Baltimore Law Review 2020-2021

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50 U. Balt. L. Rev. 1 (2020-2021)
Surveilling the Digital Abortion Diary

handle is hein.journals/ublr50 and id is 9 raw text is: SURVEILLING THE DIGITAL ABORTION DIARY
Cynthia Conti-Cook*
INTRODUCTION............................................................................... 3
I. HISTORY OF CRIMINALIZATION OF PREGNANT
PEOPLE AND PROVIDERS ................................................ 15
II. CURRENT LANDSCAPE ...................................................... 17
A. Increased Restrictions of Access ................................... 17
B. Rise of Self-Induced Abortions ......................................... 21
III. THE TECH-ASSISTED FUTURE CRIMINALIZATION
OF PREGNANT PEOPLE AND ABORTION
PROVIDERS........................................................................... 22
A. Tech-Assisted Future Criminalization of People........... 22
1. Most Americans seek medical advice online at
increasing rates ........................................................ . 22
2. Pregnant people are also seeking medical advice
online at increasing rates ......................................... 24
3. Searches of digital devices by state agencies is an
increasingly common form of surveillance,
especially of Black individuals and other people of
color dependent on state resources.......................... 29
4. Legal status of evidence from digital devices ..............38
i. Post-Carpenter applications to other digital
d ata .................................................................. . . 4 0
ii. Scope of search warrants for digital data .......... 46
iii. Scope of consent to searches of digital data..........47
5. Digital data has already been used against women
as evidence of self-induced abortions..........................48
6. Other types of digital data that could potentially be
used to criminalize pregnant people........................ 51
7. Digital data presents the potential for prosecutors
and police to circumvent medical staff to surveil
pregnant people ...................................................... 56
B. Tech-Assisted Future Criminalization of Abortion
P rov id ers .................................................................... . . 5 8
1. Providers being investigated and prosecuted............... 58

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