By: Rachel Bechtel
Published: March 6, 2026
In yet another misinformation campaign, Trump proclaimed that “[t]aking Tylenol is not good. Don’t take it[,]” alleging that Tylenol use during pregnancy causes autism.[1] This comment rightly sparked outrage from reproductive justice organizations, pregnant people, and scientists across the country.[2] However, few have discussed the implications of this misinformation as it relates to the disabled community.
This allegation is Trump’s latest targeted attack on the disabled community.[3] Since Dobbs, pregnant people have been at an increased risk of prosecution—not only for abortion, but for all behavior during pregnancy.[4] Criminal charges have been brought against pregnant people for their use of legal substances during pregnancy—even in cases when these substances have been prescribed by a medical practitioner.[5] Through Trump’s suggestion that autism is an adverse outcome stemming from a pregnant person’s use of Tylenol, he opens the door to a future where a child’s autism diagnosis could eventually be used as evidence of the criminal wrongdoing of their parent. Beyond the horrific implications this would have for pregnant people, what would this mean for the autistic and greater disabled community? When disability is criminalized, it becomes dangerous to be disabled; and relics of the past, such as “Ugly Laws,” which criminalized the presence of persons with disabilities in public, become the present.[6]
Since the mid-1990s, the Neurodivergence Movement—which describes autism as a valuable form of diversity—has gained traction.[7] However, while disability has been traditionally misconceived as a deviation from “health”, Trump’s comment demonstrates a further regression to a eugenic view of disability where it should not exist at all.[8]
Trump’s statement relies on the presumption that autism is bad and that, if Tylenol use during pregnancy did cause autism (to be clear, this is not scientifically supported), it would be an adverse outcome.[9] Not only does this negative perception of autism further stigmatize and pathologize disability, but it also provides ammunition for the wrongful prosecution of pregnant people based either on their child’s disability or fear that a fetus may develop a disability.[10]
On September 30, 2025, Pregnancy Justice released its latest data around the criminalization of pregnancy post-Dobbs, which revealed that prosecutors have charged at least 412 people with pregnancy-related crimes.[11] Only nine of these charges were abortion-related.[12] Instead, in more than half of the cases, substance use was the only allegation.[13] This data demonstrates the prevalence of prosecuting pregnant people for using illegal and legal substances during pregnancy—regardless of fetal outcome.[14]
This fear of criminal prosecution became a reality for Kim Blalock of Alabama when she was charged with prescription fraud after she filled her longstanding pain medication prescription and did not affirmatively disclose her pregnancy to the pharmacist.[15] Ms. Blalock later explained that she believed her pregnancy was obvious based on her appearance.[16] For context, Ms. Blalock had been prescribed the medication to manage her chronic pain from arthritis and degenerative disc disease.[17] The prescribing physician had not inquired as to whether she was pregnant, and there is no information that Ms. Blalock was advised against taking her pain medication during her pregnancy.[18]
While the charges against Ms. Blalock were ultimately dropped, Alabama continues to have some of the most draconian statutes criminalizing the behavior of pregnant people in the country.[19] One such statute criminalizes “chemical endangerment of a child.”[20] While originally passed to address at-home drug labs, the statute’s broad language does not limit its application to illegal substances and may encompass legally prescribed or over-the-counter medication use.[21]
Ms. Blalock’s case is not the only one in which a pregnant person has been charged for using legal substances during their pregnancy.[22] Of the 412 cases documented by Pregnancy Justice in which prosecutors charged pregnant people with pregnancy-related crimes, 184 of them were based on the use of a non-prescription, typically legal, substance such as THC or nicotine.[23] This figure does not account for cases, such as Ms. Blalock’s, in which the substance was a prescription medication.[24]
Thus, while in Ms. Blalock’s case, the substance was an opioid pain medication, could it someday be Tylenol?[25] Will Trump’s unfounded allegation that Tylenol causes autism someday mean that having an autistic child could be considered evidence of “chemical endangerment” instead of a natural and important form of diversity?[26] This potential transformation of disability into evidence of criminal wrongdoing may just be the latest play in the eugenics playbook, and we all must fight back.
[1] Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, Trump and RFK’s Pseudoscience Is Another Tool to Control Women, Ms. Mag. (Oct. 2, 2025), https://msmagazine.com/2025/10/02/trump-and-rfks-pseudoscience-is-another-tool-to-control-women/ (discussing the Trump Administration’s misinformation campaign as a tool to oppress pregnant people).
[2] See id. (describing the response to Trump’s comments).
[3] See Mia Ives‑Rublee & Casey Doherty, The Trump Administration’s War on Disability, Ctr. for Am. Progress (July 28, 2025), https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administrations-war-on-disability/ (synthesizing the variety of attacks by the Trump administration on the disabled community).
[4] See Post‑Dobbs Pregnancy Criminal Cases, Pregnancy Justice, https://www.pregnancyjusticeus.org/post-dobbs-pregnancy-criminalization (last visited Oct. 16, 2025) (detailing the prosecution of pregnant people post-Dobbs).
[5] See e.g., Alabama Mother Prosecuted for Taking Prescription During Pregnancy, Equal Just. Initiative (Dec. 7, 2021), https://eji.org/news/alabama-mother-prosecuted-for-taking-prescription-during-pregnancy/ (explaining the story of Kim Blalock, who was charged with felony possession after refilling a prescription while pregnant).
[6] See Ainsley Hawthorn, Illegal to Be ’Ugly’? The History Behind One of America’s Cruelest Laws, Nat’l Geogr. (Aug. 9, 2024), https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/history-of-ugly-laws-america-disability/ (describing the history of the “Ugly Laws”).
[7] See Autism and Neurodiversity, Nat’l Autistic Soc’y, https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/identity/autism-and-neurodiversity#What%20is%20neurodivergence (last visited Oct. 16, 2025) (explaining neurodivergence and the benefits of identifying as neurodivergent).
[8] See Zosia Zaks, Changing the Medical Model of Disability to the Normalization Model of Disability: Clarifying the Past to Create a New Future Direction, 39 Disability & Soc’y 3233, 3237 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2023.2255926 (discussing the medical model of disability and its relationship to eugenics).
[9] See Weiss-Wolf, supra note 1 (stating that Trump’s suggestion that Tylenol causes autism is not supported by science).
[10] See id.
[11] Post-Dobbs Pregnancy Criminal Cases, supra note 4 (detailing the prosecution of pregnant people post-Dobbs).
[12] Id. (explaining that much of the prosecution is not abortion-related).
[13] See id. (finding that in 268 of the 412 cases, substance use was the only allegation).
[14] See id. (stating that substance use was alleged in nearly all 412 cases).
[15] See Equal Just. Initiative, supra note 5 (relaying the story of Kim Blalock).
[16] See Lindsay Beyerstein, Alabama District Attorney Aims to Prosecute a Woman for Taking a Prescribed Drug While Pregnant, RawStory, https://www.rawstory.com/alabama-prescription-monitoring/ (last visited Oct. 16, 2025) (stating that Ms. Blalock could have believed her pregnancy was obvious because she was eight months along).
[17] Equal Just. Initiative, supra note 5 (explaining why Ms. Blalock had been prescribed pain medication).
[18] See id. (failing to describe any instances where Ms. Blalock was advised against taking her medication during pregnancy).
[19] See Press Release, Pregnancy Just., Felony Charge Dropped Against Alabama Mother Who Renewed Valid Prescription to Manage Chronic Pain During Pregnancy (Feb. 23, 2022), https://www.pregnancyjusticeus.org/press/felony-charge-dropped-against-alabama-mother-who-renewed-valid-prescription-to-manage-chronic-pain-during-pregnancy/ (announcing that the charges against Ms. Blalock were dropped); Equal Just. Initiative, supra note 5 (asserting that Alabama has some of the harshest statutes criminalizing the behavior of pregnant people).
[20] Ala. Code, § 26-15-3.2 (2015).
[21] See id. (stating that contact with “[a] controlled substance, chemical substance, or drug paraphernalia” is an element of a “chemical endangerment” charge).
[22] See Post-Dobbs Pregnancy Criminal Cases, supra note 4.
[23] See id. (breaking down the cases by type of substance used).
[24] See Equal Just. Initiative, supra note 5.
[25] See id.
[26] See id. (explaining Alabama’s “chemical endangerment” statute); Weiss-Wolf, supra note 1 (detailing Trump’s allegations); Nat’l Autistic Soc’y, supra note 6 (describing the Neurodiversity and Neurodivergence Movements).