Since 2013, nine women have gone to prison for murdering their babies based on the lung float test — a controversial analysis used by some medical examiners to help determine whether a child was stillborn or born alive and took a breath. Are these mothers really murderers, or are they victims of a test that could be considered unreliable? According to an October exposé by Pro Publica, many medical examiners likened the test to a witch trial, calling it “pseudoscience masquerading as sound forensics.”

To find the truth, Professor Daniel Medwed, a criminal law expert, and Professor Aziza Ahmed, a former member of the Northeastern Law faculty who is now on the faculty of Boston University School of Law, are leading the Floating Lung Test Research Study Group. The purpose of the group is to study the medical underpinnings of the lung float test, also referred to as the floating lung test, and determine whether it should be used in court. The group, which consists of lawyers and medical professionals, is sponsored by Northeastern Law’s Center for Public Interest Advocacy and Collaboration and the Boston University Program on Reproductive Justice. Northeastern Law faculty members Katherine Kraschel and Patricia Williams are also participating in the project.

“Evidence like the lung float test can be powerful in court, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily reliable. To label forensic evidence ‘science’ can be a misnomer in situations where there is insufficient data to support the findings,” said Medwed, whose research focuses on wrongful convictions.

According to Pro Publica, many medical experts assert that “babies don’t have to take a breath for air to enter their lungs.” Air can enter when the baby’s chest compresses as it squeezes through the birth canal, through CPR or during the ordinary handling of the body. If the body is decomposed, gases may cause the lungs to float. Given the US Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortion, Medwed and other experts are concerned that the lung float test might gain traction in cases when police and prosecutors raise questions about the circumstances of a birth. “Many of us fear this test could create another front in the war against women, a war that has reached a new level after the Supreme Court took away the right to reproductive freedom,” said Medwed.