K.J
09-27-2006, 10:22 AM
I've long been very adamant about this very issue. The "crack baby" stories were never true...just hyped up media garbage that fed a nation's fears and filled its prisons. This is a great read (http://www.alternet.org/story/41917/)on a very important sub-issue of an even more important larger issue: The War On (Some) Drugs.
K.J
In recent months, pregnant women have been arrested and jailed in South Carolina, New Mexico, Arizona, Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, North Dakota and New Hampshire, among other states, based on the claim that pregnant women can be considered child abusers even before they have given birth.
Women targeted for these arrests are usually those with untreated drug or alcohol problems.
Other women have also been arrested for endangering the fetus by not getting to the hospital quickly enough on the day of delivery and by not following doctor's advice to get bed rest. One woman who suffered a stillbirth was arrested for murder based on the claim that by exercising her right to medical decision-making and postponing a Caesarean section, she caused the death of her child.
Law enforcement officials often justify the application of criminal laws to pregnant women by claiming that the arrest and imprisonment of pregnant women will protect fetuses and advance children's health.
"We have to look at each fact to determine what the right thing is to do to protect the children," Jerry Peace, a South Carolina prosecutor, said recently.
But every leading medical organization to address this issue -- including the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Nurse Midwives, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the March of Dimes -- has concluded that the problem of alcohol and drug use during pregnancy is a health issue best addressed through education and community-based family treatment, not through the criminal justice system.
K.J
In recent months, pregnant women have been arrested and jailed in South Carolina, New Mexico, Arizona, Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, North Dakota and New Hampshire, among other states, based on the claim that pregnant women can be considered child abusers even before they have given birth.
Women targeted for these arrests are usually those with untreated drug or alcohol problems.
Other women have also been arrested for endangering the fetus by not getting to the hospital quickly enough on the day of delivery and by not following doctor's advice to get bed rest. One woman who suffered a stillbirth was arrested for murder based on the claim that by exercising her right to medical decision-making and postponing a Caesarean section, she caused the death of her child.
Law enforcement officials often justify the application of criminal laws to pregnant women by claiming that the arrest and imprisonment of pregnant women will protect fetuses and advance children's health.
"We have to look at each fact to determine what the right thing is to do to protect the children," Jerry Peace, a South Carolina prosecutor, said recently.
But every leading medical organization to address this issue -- including the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Nurse Midwives, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the March of Dimes -- has concluded that the problem of alcohol and drug use during pregnancy is a health issue best addressed through education and community-based family treatment, not through the criminal justice system.