Over the centuries, a flawed and controversial forensics tool known as the “floating lung test” or lung float test has sent innocent women accused of infanticide to the gallows. And even though experts have known for decades that the test that allegedly determines whether a newborn drew breath before dying is inaccurate and unethical, it is still being used to distinguish between stillbirths and live births during legal proceedings in the U.S. and abroad. ProPublica reported in October that the test has been used in at least 11 cases in which women were charged criminally for the death of their newborns since 2013. It helped put nine in jail.
Shortly after the article appeared, Daniel Medwed, Northeastern University distinguished professor of law and criminal justice, announced that he was collaborating with a colleague at Boston University Law School to create the Floating Lung Test Research Study Group. Medwed spoke to Northeastern Global News about what inspired the study group, which is sponsored by the Northeastern Law’s Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration and the Boston University Program on Reproductive Justice, and what it hopes to achieve.
