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In some states a pregnant woman's drug use triggers only an evaluation of parenting ability and the provision of services whereas, in others, it provides the basis for presuming neglect or qualifies as a factor to be considered in terminating parental rights. Many other states, as a matter of policy or practice, refer women who have tested positive for drugs to child welfare authorities. As a result of these laws and practices,
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thousands of women have temporarily or permanently lost custody of their children based on evidence of drug use during pregnancy. Although no state legislature has enacted legislation to punish pregnancy and drug use, over 200 women in 30 states have been prosecuted. As a result of a judicial decision, in South Carolina a pregnant woman who uses an illicit drug may be prosecuted as a child abuser and sentenced to ten
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Suggested Reading
Mother
's Survival Guide to Recovery
All About Alcohol, Drugs and Babies
By Laurie Turner.
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years in jail.
These laws, practices and decisions have been based largely on myth and misinformation.
Although men still far outnumber women in arrests for drug related crimes, women represent the fasted growing population of people being imprisoned for drug offenses.
Since 1986 the number of women in prison has increased 400%. For women of color the rise is 800%. Women are also serving harsher sentences. Women often incur long sentences precisely because they refuse, or are unable, to give prosecutors evidence about their husband's or boyfriend's crimes and connections. Indeed, a 1997 review of over 60,000 federal drug cases by the Minneapolis Star Tribune shows that men are more likely to sell out their women to get a shorter sentence than vice versa.
By Lynn M. Paltrow, Project Director,
National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW),
45 West 10th Street, New York, New York 10011.
212-475-4218, 212-254-9679 (fax)
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