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http://www.localnewsalbuquerque.com/tn-law-jailing-pregnant-for-drug-use-deters-addiction-treatment-critics-say/

TN law jailing pregnant for drug use deters addiction treatment, critics say


Windsor Genova – Fourth Estate Cooperative Contributor

Washington, DC, United States (4E) – Critics of a new state law criminalizing pregnant Tennesseans, who endanger their unborn child by using narcotics, say the regulation does not solve the problem of drug addiction because it deters addicted expectant mothers from seeking treatment.

Columnists from The New York Times (NYT) and The Washington Post (TWP) have echoed the positions of health and rights groups against the law that took effect on July 1 and now threatens Mallory Loyola, 26, with a one-year sentence after she and her newborn were tested positive for methamphetamine after delivery and birth on July 6.

In her Wednesday NYT column Op Talk, Anna Altman cited Barbara Levy of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) as saying that “the very best outcome for the unborn fetus is to treat the mom and the baby as a unit” and “to get the best care for the mom” meaning she can seek addiction treatment without concern that she will be jailed.

A week after Loyola was arrested and charged for assault under the said law, Deborah Jang-Stein, a self-confessed heroin baby, warned in her TWP column Post Everything that “the law sentences two generations at a time and continues a cycle of trauma.”

Jang-Stein said, “This law will keep pregnant women who are using drugs away from prenatal care. A better policy would provide drug treatment, medical and mental health services, and job skills training… It’s a public health and mental health concern, treatable through rehab, mental health services, and drug treatment.”

The founder of non-profit The unPrison Project, which aids women and girl prisoners, also said that the number of children under 18 with a mother in prison has more than doubled since 1991 to 2.3 million, which is larger than the population of Delaware, San Francisco or Philadelphia.

The controversial law was signed last April by Republican Governor Bill Haslam in a bid to curb the number of infants born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, a withdrawal syndrome among infants exposed to drugs. The law made Tennessee the only state that explicitly allow prosecutors to charge mothers for using drugs while pregnant. There are 17 states with laws that consider drug use by a pregnant woman a child welfare offense.

After the law was signed, ThinkProgress.org columnist Tara Culp-Ressler said, “Addiction is considered to be a medical issue, and under the Constitution’s definition of cruel and unusual punishment, states aren’t allowed to criminalize those types of disorders.”

Cherisse A. Scott, founder and CEO of SisterReach, a Tennessee-based group focused on women’s reproductive rights, was quoted by Globalnews.ca as saying, “Poor mothers and their families will be the ones who suffer the effects of this dangerous legislation the most.”

The American Medical Association and the ACOG also disagree that criminal or civil penalties, such as incarceration, involuntary commitment, loss of custody of children, or loss of housing should result from seeking prenatal or open medical care.

“Addiction is a chronic, relapsing biological and behavioral disorder with genetic components. The disease of substance addiction is subject to medical and behavioral management in the same fashion as hypertension and diabetes,” according to ACOG.

Drug addiction is now being treated through a combination of medical and counseling approach. An example of a modern treatment is the use of naltrexone to block craving for opioids, including methamphetamine.

While addiction patients usually take naltrexone orally or intravenously, the Start Fresh Program licensed by BioCorRx Inc.’s (BICX, finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BICX) to rehab clinics uses implants to deliver the medicine.

Although pregnant women should first consult their doctor if they can undergo the procedure, individuals who want to address their drug dependence have been encouraged to consider enrolling in the program, which also involves life coaching sessions, to prepare one for a life free of substance abuse.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee is challenging the Tennessee law it describes as “unconstitutional” for singling out new mothers struggling with addiction for criminal assault charges.