Kentucky ranks amongst the last in the nation in rates ofchildhood poverty. In the subsequent months, M. saw her son once a week at best. Between 1992 and 1995, the number of states that prosecuted drug-addicted pregnant women increased nearly threefold. This isaccomplished through a statewide OBHP contract withEmory University. State laws treat mother's substance use during pregnancy as child abuse Are Doctors Legally Required to Report Drug Use During Pregnancy Medical and public health experts who are desirous of seeing a greater focus on treatment of substance-abusing pregnant women must stay particularly alert to legislative efforts to expand the legal definition of a child to include fetuses or to define prenatal substance use explicitly as a form of child abuse. Termination of parental rights is a mechanism by which families are turned into strangers, all contact and personal identity is erased, and families are destroyed forever. State of Georgia government websites and email systems use georgia.gov or ga.gov at the end of the address. First Woman Charged on Controversial Law that Criminalizes Drug Use Comparisons of drug laws to alcohol laws show that the policy trajectories started in opposite directions, but by 2016, the results were the same: Punitive policies were more prevalent than supportive policies across states. Theresearchis also clear that the results of a drug test alone are not an appropriate proxy for determining parental fitness. Applying CDCs Guideline for Prescribing Opioids: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee Opinion: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website. Critics argue law will deter women from seeking treatment. The pregnancies had the following outcome: no adverse effects of the substance reported (n = 12), withdrawal symptoms (n = 7), prematurity and/or small size at birth (n = 5), death in the neonatal period (n = 3), and stillbirth (n = 2). How States Handle Drug Use During Pregnancy - ProPublica Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. 31]. Federal drug laws exist to control the use, manufacturing, possession, and distribution of various drugs that are legal and illegal. 1996), State v. Aiwohi, 123 P.3d 1210 (Haw. Anonymous screening of consecutive urine samples testing positive for pregnancy from a UK inner-city clinic demonstrated that approximately 16% of the women had taken one or more illicit substances (Sherwood et al, 1999). An example of this reasoning was articulated by the majority in State v. Welch: Meanwhile, private insurance companies have found ways to circumvent Obamacare requirements on MAT coverage. Babies exposed to cocaine in the womb have a 25 percent increased chance of being born premature. Oklahoma Law: Life Imprisonment for Using Drugs While Pregnant? Three courts stated that permitting prosecutions under the contested statute was counterproductive to state policy goals and public health. Aspartame. Terminating a mothers rights to her newborn is an especially brutal drug war tactic that research and experience show will inflict far more harm than good on the children and families it allegedly aims to protect. To learn about CDC activities to educate the public about the harms of tobacco use, visit Tips From Former Smokers (Tips) from the Office on Smoking and Health. The survey also notes that if prenatal drug use is suspected, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin require health professionals to report it while Indiana requires pregnant women to be tested; Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota require both. Pregnancy. We also were unable to determine the race or economic status of the defendants and do not know if poor or minority women are overrepresented among the defendants. The laws can vary widely from state to state in terms of reporting requirements and consequences of reporting. Nicotine is a health danger for pregnant women and developing babies and can damage a developing babys brain and lungs. Every pregnant woman facing substance use disorder deserves to get the help she needs so that she and her infant have the best possible chance to thrive. Drug Use During Pregnancy Effects | Turnbridge Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowable. Establishes requirements for health care providers to encourage and facilitate drug counseling. MSACD collaborates with Georgias Alcohol Prevention Providers and their communities in all six of Georgias regions to raise awareness about alcohol and substance abuse among pregnant women. Lets Be Clear GA - MARIJUANA AND PREGNANCY App. The balance in the courts in favor of treating substance use during pregnancy as a medical problem depends on the definition of a child for the purposes of criminal statutes. While some papers estimate that 1-3% of birth defects are thought to be caused by medications taken during pregnancy, the authors could not find a source for this statement that was based on study d. This was lower than the rate among women in this age group who were not pregnant (11.4 percent). There is also no safe time during pregnancy to drink. Section 2 of the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act of 2006 (Act 457) requires public employers, their contractors and subcontractors to verify the work eligibility of all newly hired employees through an electronic federal work authorization program. Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of health problems for developing babies, including preterm birth, low birth weight, and birth defects of the mouth and lip. Cases of Women Charged With Child Abuse-Related Crimes for Substance Use During Pregnancy The substances related to the charges were cocaine ( n = 15), methamphetamine ( n = 10), heroin ( n = 2), marijuana ( n = 1), oxycodone ( n = 1), and unspecified prescription pills ( n = 1). Dehumanizing Discourse, Anti-drug Law, and Policy in America: A "Crack Mother's" Nightmare . If youre using marijuana and are pregnant or are planning to become pregnant, talk to your healthcare provider. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. Fentanylis a prescription opioid that can be used to treat severe pain. Unfortunately, many women of childbearing age in the U.S. use some form of illegal drug. CDCs Division of Reproductive Health (DRH) provides scientific leadership in the surveillance of marijuana use during pregnancy. Briefs from medical or public health organizations were submitted to the court in seven of the cases, all supporting the defendant's position. The implication for medical experts is that advocacy efforts may be most useful when focused on state legislatures that are contemplating policies to reduce harms associated with prenatal substance abuse. Yet despite the country's best efforts to fight it, the problem is getting worse, and is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the present time, the Center for MSACD fulfills several roles in Georgia by sponsoring clinical, prevention, and research programs. 2005), Richards v. State, 2005 Tenn. Crim. Good reproductive health policy starts with credible research. Prescribed medicines. Arrests of and Forced Interventions on Pregnant Women in the United We do not know the role that medical expertise and testimony played in influencing the judicial outcome at the trial court level. One of the authors read six cases in random order, abstracting data into the identified categories of variables to determine the applicability of the a priori coding scheme. For example, pregnant women should drink less than 1 liter (about 3 cans) of diet soda per day. State laws now vary considerably in their approach to the problem, reflecting a deep division in public opinion. Visitour state legislation trackerfor policy activity on all sexual and reproductive health topics. SUBSTANCE USE DURING PREGNANCY CONSIDERED: WHEN DRUG USE DIAGNOSED OR SUSPECTED, STATE REQUIRES: Pregnant People Given Priority Access in General Programs, Pregnant People Protected from Discrimination in Publicly Funded Programs. We did not examine judicial decisions regarding women who have faced civil child abuse proceedings related to prenatal substance use. CDC twenty four seven. Indeed, few, if any, middle- or upper-class women who use drugs during pregnancy will ever experience a child abuse and neglect proceeding, let alone a termination of parental rightsthough drug use is common among people of all socioeconomic levels. Otherstudieshave found that babies exposed to cocaine in utero perform better on several developmental measures when left with their mothers than do those removed to foster care. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure youre on an official state website. There are several limitations to this study. These may include the medical model of substance use disorders,4 racial disparities in substance use screening and reporting in pregnancy,47 and the difficulty of attributing a particular birth outcome to a single cause.48, Criminalization of pregnant women for substance abuse is fraught with problems related to conceptual and practical implementation, even if in theory one believes that substance use in pregnancy is both a moral dilemma and a medical problem. Drugs with evidence of fetal harm were widely used. In the three judicial opinions that upheld convictions, the court determined that the legislature intended to include fetuses in the definition of child for the purposes of the relevant statute. The state legislature passed the law in 2014 explicitly to permit criminal assault charges for illicit substance use in pregnancy and, on conviction, imprisonment.10 The impetus for the law was rapidly rising rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome, an opioid withdrawal syndrome in infants that may require prolonged monitoring in intensive care units.12 The law expired on July 1, 2016, based on a sunset provision in the original bill.10 No other states have similar criminal statutes, but two other state legislatures recently debated criminalization to combat the opioid epidemic.13,14. Although pregnancy is an exciting time, there are stresses and risks that come with pregnancy and the postpartum period. *The Alabama Supreme Court held that drug use while pregnant is considered chemical endangerment of a child. All of these cases were appellate decisions except for one published trial court decision,24 which we discuss separately, given that trial court decisions are not typically published and do not resolve matters of law. At least two states, Arizona and Kentucky, have just made it easier to terminate the rights of mothers who use controlled substances while pregnant. Criminalization has taken many forms including, but not limited to, the passage of fetal assault laws, policies that punish or penalize pregnant people for substance use during pregnancy, and the practice of judicial intervention or legal attempts at coercion for refusal of care during pregnancy. The South Carolina Supreme Court in McKnight v. State17 referenced its earlier decision in Whitner v. South State16 when it opined that, in several cases this Court has specifically held that the Legislature's use of the term child includes a viable fetus. The court also pointed out that, after the Whitner decision, the legislature did not modify the statute to exclude viable fetuses from its definition of child. Many of the early cases were related to maternal cocaine use, whereas more recent cases tended to involve maternal methamphetamine use. Abstract. The vast majority ofTemporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding, or federal welfare dollars meant to help the poor, is not spent on assistance to poor families, but rather on placing and keeping children in the foster care system. Thank you for your interest in recommending The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law site. A study Wexelblatt led between 2012 and 2013 found 5.4% of all mothers had a positive drug test on admission and 3.2% of the mothers tested positive for opioids. Arizona now has one of the highest foster care placement rates in the nation. Using Illegal Drugs During Pregnancy To learn more about medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder and considerations in pregnancy, visit https://www.samhsa.gov/medication-assisted-treatment. Pregnant Mothers and Drugs - Should they be charged? NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. Substance Abuse During Pregnancy and the Threat of Jail To date, the United States Supreme Court has declined to hear cases that raise questions about the constitutionality of such laws. Cocaine (including crack cocaine) and methamphetamine (speed, or ice) are powerful stimulants that effect the central nervous system. Studieshave found that babies exposed to cocaine in utero are not at greater risk of maltreatment as young children than similarly situated babies. Substance Use During Pregnancy | Guttmacher Institute Using cocaine or methamphetamine -- also called speed, Tina, crank, or ice -- increases the risk of miscarriage early in the pregnancy. Pregnancy - Department of Health App.3d 214 (Cal. Opioids are a class of drugs used to manage pain, but also have serious risks, such as addiction. In the family court systems, there is no respect for medicine or science, she wrote. The state argued that the drug delivery occurred via the umbilical cord in the period after birth but before the cord was clamped. Civil child abuse proceedings are explicitly permitted in 18 states.9 These may lead to termination of parental rights, but not to prison sentences. Along with counseling and behavioral therapy, opioid medications (buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone) may be used in medication assisted therapy (MAT) to treat opioid use disorder. Despite progress in the criminal legal system, the drug war remains almost unchallenged in the child protection system, and it is wreaking havoc on families. 1. Georgia Drug Possession Laws - FindLaw Since 1973, authorities in at least 45 states have sought to prosecute women for exposing their unborn children to drugs. 1. Cases of Women Charged With Child AbuseRelated Crimes for Substance Use During Pregnancy, The substances related to the charges were cocaine (n = 15), methamphetamine (n = 10), heroin (n = 2), marijuana (n = 1), oxycodone (n = 1), and unspecified prescription pills (n = 1). Wisconsin provides priority access to pregnant people in both general and private programs. His girlfriend is also a meth addict. After the passage of the 2014 law, this reasoning no longer applied, although it became relevant again with the fetal assault law's expiration in July 2016. 488. first criminal charges brought against a woman for using drugs during pregnancy came in 1977 against Margaret Reyes. The South Carolina Supreme Court held that a viable fetus is a "person" under the state's criminal child-endangerment statute and that "maternal acts endangering or likely to endanger the life, comfort, or health of a viable fetus" constitute criminal child abuse. Most states do not have a law that requires hospitals to test infants and new moms for controlled substances. If you valued this article, please help us produce more journalism like this by making a contribution today. Significantly higher numbers come from the Centers for Disease Control, which in 2019 reported that some 16% of pregnant women . Tennessee To Decide If It Will Keep Criminalizing Pregnant Women For However, in 2015, law enforcement cracked down on drug use during pregnancy. But, for that matter, she could have been a pregnant alcoholic, causing fetal alcohol syndrome; or she could have been addicted to self abuse by smoking, or by abusing prescription painkillers, or over-the-counter medicine; or for that matter she could have been addicted to downhill skiing or some other sport creating serious risk of prenatal injury, risk which the mother wantonly disregarded as a matter of self-indulgence. As her due date approached, M. found a hospital that claimed to specialize in the care of babies who were exposed to opioids in utero and traveled a far distance to give birth there. Alabama's crackdown on pregnant marijuana users - al.com Meanwhile, several states have expanded their civil child-welfare requirements to include prenatal substance use, so that prenatal drug exposure can provide grounds for terminating parental rights because of child abuse or neglect. Later in the pregnancy, these illicit drugs may cause. Cases wherein charges resulted in civil proceedings only (e.g., custody proceedings) were not included. As part of CDCs efforts to prevent overdoses and substance use-related harms, CDC is taking specific actions to prevent opioid use disorder among pregnant women and women who could become pregnant and to make sure women with opioid use disorder get proper treatment. If you or someone close to you needs help for a substance use disorder, talk to your healthcare provider or call SAMHSAs National Helpline at1-800-662-HELP. Learn more at Alcohol Use in Pregnancy from the Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders. Such policies are rooted in stigma and gross indifference to what the best available science tells us about how to compassionately and effectively serve pregnant women struggling with drug use disorders and their families. 2007), State v. Hudson, 2007 Tenn. Crim. 96 A 2017 opinion posted by . This means that a woman who uses opiates during pregnancy may be prosecuted if her child shows any signs of harm (including neonatal withdrawal) related to the use of opiates. Marijuana use during and after pregnancy and association of prenatal use on birth outcomes: A population-based study. Another major concern is addressing the harm that a child of any age can \ suffer when a parent's use of alcohol or other substances leads to neglect of the child, or the child is exposed to illegal drug activity.