Photo by seanmcgrath, via Flickr

A new study argues that so-called “feticide” laws have been used to arrest women for decisions made during pregnancy, and in some cases, to prevent planned abortions.

The study, published yesterday in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, reports on 413 cases from 1973 to 2005 in which pregnancy was “a factor leading to attempted and actual deprivations of a woman’s physical liberty.”

About 56 percent of the cases were in the South, and 22 percent were in the Midwest, according to the study.

“In two cases state action was used to detain women who expressed an intention to have an abortion, and in one of those the woman’s incarceration prevented her from having an abortion,” researchers wrote.

Read the study HERE.