Substance Abuse During Pregnancy PSA

Substance Abuse During Pregnancy

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Protecting the Unborn from Drug Abuse Act: Why we must oppose this bill

Protecting the Unborn from Drug Abuse Act: Why we must oppose this bill

Recently, it has come to my attention that the hospital will soon have a meeting discussing its policy in regards to the Protecting the Unborn from Drug Abuse Act. I would like to add my voice to those who oppose this piece of legislation, in no uncertain terms.

Although the current bill's heart may appear be in the right place, this bill has the troubling and potentially frightening potential to deny a woman her reproductive rights. Firstly, it seems blatantly unconstitutional: a fetus does not have the legal status of personhood, in a nation where abortion is defined as an integral part of women's privacy rights. To be consistent with Roe v. Wade, women who do illegal drugs could not be penalized until after the third trimester, the point at which the state is defined as having an interest in the developing fetus' life as well as the life of the mother. By this stage, the damage to the fetus will already have been done, in terms of the substance abuse it has been exposed to prenatally. To attempt to legislate the behavior of the mother before the third trimester seems impossible: a woman threatened with incarceration or enforced treatment because she does illegal drugs while pregnant would likely invoke her right to have an abortion, given the legal threat to which she was being subjected.

Women who abuse illegal substances, for obvious reasons, are often the women most apt to attempt to 'fly under the radar' of the healthcare system, for fear of being reported to the authorities. This bill will only discourage such women from seeking appropriate medical treatment during pregnancy, for fear of losing their liberties if they desire to continue to carry their fetus to term. It could result in more, rather than less costly care for premature infants, given the reduced rates of prenatal care amongst substance abusing women who will avoid being seen by a healthcare provider.

Because of the legal conundrums raised by the bill, I also have my doubts that the framers of the bill truly wish to protect 'the unborn' from harm. The bill includes no provisions for other types of expanded access to prenatal and post-natal care for impoverished women, or expanded funding for drug treatment of pregnant women outside of prisons. It seems like a convenient way to test the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade, as if the bill is contested, the issue of legal abortion will certainly arise in the appellate courts, perhaps even in the Supreme Court. But even if abortion does not become the primary focus of the bills proponents and opponents, the bill also raises the troubling civil rights issue of special litigation that penalizes substance-abusing women who can become pregnant more than women who cannot, or men.

I understand that some members of the hospital staff are hopeful that the bill will enable some women to enter drug treatment more easily. However, as no additional funding for such treatment is provided in the bill, it seems likely that many pregnant women will be sent to prison, as if they cannot enter a treatment program, drug treatment in prison is their only option. I would also remind proponents of the bill of the high recidivism rate of individuals who are forced to enter into a treatment program.