States Differ On Treatment Or Incarceration For Pregnant Women Who Abuse Alcohol

………..Scientific research has well established that adverse health consequences from abusing alcohol can occur, not just at certain points in pregnancy, but throughout it. In the article in UCLA Women’s Law Journal titled “The Meaning, Status, and Future of Reproductive Autonomy: The Case of Alcohol Use During Pregnancy,” researchers found states with few elected women officeholders tend to have tougher sanctions for pregnant women who abuse alcohol. Researchers suggest this scenario can have harmful long-term effects on not only the would-be mother, but also the fetus these laws are trying to protect. “Not only is jail an amazingly severe reaction to alcohol abuse during pregnancy, but substance abuse treatment programs and pre-natal care are almost non-existent in these facilities,” said Sue Thomas, Ph.D., the study’s lead author and a policy researcher at PIRE. “While few question the serious consequences of alcohol abuse on fetuses, the best way of avoiding them is to provide treatment for the pregnant women rather than lock them up.” 

Sanctions tend to discourage pregnant women from seeking treatment that can help them and their fetuses, Dr. Thomas said. “When women know that they could face involuntary commitment or charges of child abuse or neglect, evidence suggests they avoid medical treatment altogether,” she said…….……..Another interesting finding of the study is that women officeholders make a real difference in policy choices. State legislatures with higher rates of women lawmakers tended to pass laws that favored substance abuse treatment over incarceration. Conversely, states with low levels of women’s representation tended to pass policies that prosecute women and require medical staff to report women who use alcohol during pregnancy to child protective services or the criminal justice system. At the time when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ascension turns attention to the policy difference women make, this study is evidence that women’s impact can be substantial, Dr. Thomas said…….. Full Journal Article - The case of alcohol use in pregnancyNews clip from Medical News Today 20/1/07   http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=61099  

[IIAA online / UCLA Women’s Law Journal, USA – Volume 154 No 1 Fall 2006]  http://www.iiaaonline.org/pdf/UCLAWomen%27sLawJournal.pdf  

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