File This Under "Bad Ideas"

by Jill Morrison, Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

As you may know, we are pretty passionate here about opposing measures that punish pregnant women who are addicted to drugs. We’ve briefed and we’ve blogged. As we’ve explained over and over, prosecuting or criminalizing pregnancy is not just ridiculously unconstitutional, it is also poor public health policy that leads to worse health outcomes for mothers and infants. It is also why this headline makes about no sense:

Measure forces care on pregnant, meth-hooked women 

The proposed Arizona law requires child protective services to request a judicial order to have sheriffs take women to treatment. It doesn’t say what sheriffs are supposed to do if a woman refuses to go. Could she be charged with resisting arrest, get arrested, and then be left to detox in a jail cell (which btw can be more deadly to both her and the fetus than taking drugs)?

You can’t “force care” on someone. It is an oxymoron. This is a serious problem, yes, but it is a problem better handled with social workers, doctors, trained addiction specialists and comprehensive family-based treatment targeted to the needs of pregnant and parenting women, not judges and cops. Let’s hope this bill doesn’t go anywhere.