A Cop Was Charged With Causing His Wife’s Miscarriage. Alabama’s Laws Came Down Harder on Pregnant Women Who Used Drugs.

On February 15, 2022, Robert Maddox Jr., a new police officer in Headland, Alabama, called his colleague James "Bo" Knight in distress. His wife, Brittany Maddox, was heavily pregnant and bleeding; they needed help watching their children while they went to the hospital. Knight arrived with his own wife, found fetal remains in a plastic bag, and learned Robert intended to take his wife and the bag to the hospital.

Hours later, Robert returned holding a white container, claiming he had taken his wife and the bag to the hospital. Six weeks after the miscarriage, Brittany filed a police report accusing Robert of assaulting her before and after her hospital visit, including choking and beating her in front of their children. Robert's fellow officer Knight later gave a sworn statement, admitting to physically abusing Brittany multiple times, including shortly before the miscarriage.

In Alabama, causing a miscarriage is treated very seriously due to the state's "fetal personhood" laws, which grant embryos and fetuses legal rights similar to those of children. Robert initially faced murder charges, but the prosecution later deemed the case inconclusive. The Maddox case marks a stark contrast to the numerous other fetal personhood prosecutions in Houston County, where pregnant women are charged for potentially harming their unborn children, not because they physically caused the miscarriage.

Many of these women were charged after testing positive for drug use during pregnancy, with some spending months in jail or prison. Houston County District Attorney Russ Goodman stated that the Maddox case was unique and that his office typically seeks addiction treatment instead of prison sentences for pregnant women who use drugs.

Robert Maddox, however, denied the allegations, claiming the injuries he inflicted were not severe enough to require hospitalization.