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State
Legislation on Pregnant Women’s Drug Use is Still a Hot Topic By Lynn
Paltrow This
year, Oklahoma's house passed a bill that would make it a crime for a pregnant
drug-using woman to refuse drug treatment. While no legislature in full has
passed a law that would make it a crime to be pregnant and drug-using, South
Carolina has done so by judicial fiat, and 18 states have now amended their
civil child welfare laws to address specifically the subject of a woman's drug
use during pregnancy. These laws vary from state to state. In South
Carolina, a newborn child is presumed to be neglected and "cannot be
protected from further harm without being removed from the custody of the
mother" if either the mother or the child tests positive for a controlled
substance. (A similar bill has been
proposed in New York State.) By contrast, California law mandates that "any
indication of maternal substance abuse shall lead to an assessment of the needs
of the mother and child" and a positive drug test alone is not
"sufficient basis for reporting child abuse or neglect." Even in
California, however, a woman had her child taken away from her for three months,
based solely on a positive drug test. It turned out that the test reflected a
drug that a doctor had administered to her during labor. Although New York and
many other states do not treat pregnancy-related behaviors as child neglect,
health care workers often report pregnant women who test positive to child
welfare authorities, where case workers with no substance abuse training may
remove the child. What
would be the best policy for all states to follow? Drug testing would be done
only with the woman's fully informed consent Drug use alone would never be
considered an indication of civil or criminal child abuse. Child welfare
authorities would be called in only when there was an indication beyond a
positive drug test of a true inability to parent. And drug treatment, prenatal
care, reproductive and mental health services, proper nutrition, stable housing
and safe, non-abusive environments would be widely available. Lynn
Paltrow, director of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, has just
completed an in-depth report on the federal and state statutes affecting
pregnant women and their babies. To request a copy, call (212) 475-4218, or
write her, at lmpnyc@aol.com. |
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