California miscarriage laws protect you from criminal or civil liability for a pregnancy loss, keep your medical records private, guarantee emergency treatment at any hospital, and give you job-protected time off to recover. The state’s protections are among the strongest in the country, built on a constitutional right to reproductive freedom, the Reproductive Privacy Act, and AB-2223. Federal rules on emergency care and workplace accommodations layer on top.
You Cannot Be Prosecuted for a Pregnancy Loss
The fear that a miscarriage or stillbirth could trigger a criminal investigation is what drives most people to look up the law. In California, the answer is clear. Health and Safety Code Section 123467, added by AB-2223 in 2022, prohibits anyone from facing civil or criminal liability “based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome, including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death due to causes that occurred in utero.”1California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 123467
The shield reaches past the patient. Anyone who helps a pregnant person exercise their rights under the Reproductive Privacy Act is also immune, provided they act with the pregnant person’s voluntary consent.1California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 123467 Doctors, nurses, midwives, partners, family members, and friends who provide support during a miscarriage cannot be prosecuted or sued for that help.
AB-2223 also closed a route that had led to past prosecutions. The bill repealed Health and Safety Code Section 103000 and amended Section 103005 so a coroner’s statements on a fetal death certificate cannot be used to support any criminal prosecution or civil lawsuit against a person immune under Section 123467. The legislative findings behind the bill noted bluntly that despite existing law, “police have investigated and prosecutors have charged people with homicide for pregnancy losses” in California.2California Legislative Information. AB-2223 Reproductive Health
The protection sits on a deeper foundation. In 2022, voters approved Proposition 1, adding Section 1.1 to Article I of the California Constitution and enshrining reproductive freedom as a state constitutional right.3California Legislative Information. California Constitution Article I Section 1.1 The Reproductive Privacy Act then puts miscarriage management on the list of personal reproductive decisions covered by the “fundamental right of privacy” in Health and Safety Code Section 123462, alongside prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, and infertility care.4California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 123462 Naming miscarriage management by statute removes any argument that pregnancy loss falls outside those protections.
Your Medical Records Stay Private
California has its own medical privacy law that is stricter than the federal baseline. The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Civil Code Section 56.10, prohibits health care providers, health plans, and their contractors from disclosing your medical information without your written authorization, with limited exceptions. Even when law enforcement from another state arrives with a search warrant, the CMIA blocks compliance if executing that warrant would violate California law, including the Reproductive Privacy Act.5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 56.10 – Disclosure of Medical Information
Federal privacy law is in a weaker spot than it was supposed to be. In 2024, HHS amended the HIPAA Privacy Rule to add specific protections for reproductive health information, but a federal court in Texas struck down nearly all of those amendments in Purl v. HHS, ruling that HHS exceeded its authority. That ruling applies nationwide, so the enhanced federal protections are not currently in effect. The original HIPAA Privacy Rule still applies without the pregnancy-specific safeguards. For care received in California, the CMIA fills much of the gap. If you receive care across state lines, your records have less federal protection than the 2024 rule would have provided.
Emergency Rooms Must Treat You
If you go to an emergency room with symptoms of a miscarriage, federal law requires the hospital to treat you regardless of your ability to pay or your insurance status. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires every hospital with an emergency department to screen anyone who arrives and, if the screening reveals an emergency medical condition, to provide stabilizing treatment within the hospital’s capabilities or arrange an appropriate transfer.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1395dd – Examination and Treatment for Emergency Medical Conditions and Women in Labor
EMTALA defines an emergency medical condition to include situations where the absence of immediate care could place the health of a pregnant patient or her unborn child “in serious jeopardy,” cause “serious impairment to bodily functions,” or result in “serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.”6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1395dd – Examination and Treatment for Emergency Medical Conditions and Women in Labor Heavy bleeding, infection, and incomplete miscarriage all fall within that definition. CMS has reaffirmed that EMTALA protects pregnant patients presenting with obstetric emergencies, including miscarriages, and that hospitals must provide stabilizing care within their capabilities.7Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CMS Statement on Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) A hospital that turns you away or delays treatment during a miscarriage-related emergency is violating federal law.
Time Off Work to Recover
Recovering from a miscarriage often means missing work, and several overlapping laws protect your job. Which one applies depends on your employer’s size and your work history.
Pregnancy Disability Leave
Under Government Code Section 12945, a California employer cannot refuse to let an employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition take leave for a reasonable period up to four months. The employer must continue paying for the employee’s group health plan coverage during that leave, and must provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related conditions when a health care provider recommends them.8California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945 Miscarriage qualifies as a related medical condition, so PDL covers time off needed for physical recovery, follow-up procedures, or complications.
Reproductive Loss Leave
California also created a separate reproductive loss leave that stacks on top of PDL, CFRA, and FMLA. You can take reproductive loss leave if you experience a miscarriage while employed, and if you happen to be on another type of leave when the loss occurs, you can take reproductive loss leave within three months of finishing the other leave.9California Civil Rights Department. Leave From Work After a Reproductive Loss
Federal Leave and Accommodations
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 2000gg-1 – Nondiscrimination With Regard to Reasonable Accommodations Related to Pregnancy The EEOC’s final regulation explicitly lists miscarriage and stillbirth as covered conditions.11U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEOC Issues Final Regulation on Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Accommodations might include time off for medical appointments, a modified schedule, temporary light duty, or remote work. Your employer must engage in an interactive process to figure out what works and can only refuse if the accommodation would cause genuine undue hardship.
The Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition, defined as an illness, injury, impairment, or condition that involves inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2611 – Definitions The statute’s legislative history specifically lists miscarriage as an example of a serious health condition.13U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA-85 Opinion Letter FMLA eligibility requires working for an employer with at least 50 employees within 75 miles, having worked there for at least 12 months, and having logged at least 1,250 hours in the preceding year.
Deducting Medical Costs
Hospital visits, procedures, lab work, prescriptions, and follow-up appointments connected to a miscarriage qualify as deductible medical expenses on your federal tax return. You can deduct the portion of your total unreimbursed medical and dental expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.14Internal Revenue Service. Publication 502 – Medical and Dental Expenses The threshold means the deduction mostly helps when total medical spending is high relative to income, which emergency care or surgery can easily produce.
Funds in a Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account can also be used for miscarriage-related expenses, including hospital fees, prescription medications, and provider visits. Keep itemized receipts; the IRS may request documentation to verify that expenses qualify.