Make a law and let the babies suffer.

[doggie]

Of course what the stupid GOP can't comprehend and really shows how little they care about woman and babies passed this crap of a law that does nothing but making them feel better.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pre ... _hp_ref=tw

A year ago, when Tennessee passed a bill allowing women to be charged with assault if they use narcotics while pregnant, health advocates warned that the law would deter women from seeking vital medical care out of fear of being prosecuted. Their concerns are now coming true.

“We are getting lots of anecdotal information about women not seeking critical prenatal care, and avoiding going to the hospital to give birth, because they are scared of being arrested and having their baby taken away,†said Allison Glass, state director of Healthy and Free Tennessee, a nonprofit women's advocacy group. “Not only does the current law do nothing to help those who may, in fact, need treatment, but it’s actually having a negative public health impact.â€

The controversial law, which went into effect in July 2014 despite vocal opposition from leading medical groups, was passed in response to Tennessee’s growing opioid epidemic. Over the past 10 years, the state has seen a nearly tenfold rise in the incidence of babies born with "neonatal abstinence syndrome" (NAS), a group of symptoms that can occur when babies are in withdrawal from exposure to narcotics.

Babies with NAS may be irritable, have trouble feeding and sleeping or suffer from vomiting and diarrhea, but medical professionals stress that the condition is treatable and hasn’t been associated with any long-term negative consequences.

Critics of the Tennessee law contend that incarcerating mothers and separating them from their babies leads to far more severe health outcomes than NAS, and that it flies in the face of medical consensus.

On Friday, national and international experts on NAS, public health researchers, clinicians, reproductive health advocates and drug treatment professionals are descending on Tennessee to try and convince the state of just that.

A two-day national symposium on pregnancy and neonatal abstinence syndrome is being held in Nashville. The location of the event is no coincidence: As the only state in the country thus far to explicitly criminalize drug use during pregnancy, Tennessee has become ground zero in the debate over how to treat pregnant women who struggle with addiction.

[sawasdee]

Of course what the stupid GOP can't comprehend and really shows how little they care about woman and babies passed this crap of a law that does nothing but making them feel better.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pre ... _hp_ref=tw

And you think there is a :whistle: chance that the politicians will admit they were wrong?

OOh, there's a vietnamese potbellied pig just passing my window.... :whistle:

[Jana814]

Politicians will never admit they were wrong.

[older than allosaurs]

This went on in the 1980s and '90s during the crack cocaine epidemic, with the same reasoning and the same results. Several states--Florida is the one I remember--passed laws charging women who gave birth with the drug in their systems with assault. Turning their mothers into felons will help vulnerable babies how, exactly?

If such a law worked in scaring women straight, it would have some justification. I have adopted drug exposed children, and I know they can have a very rough start. But it doesn't work, so the only beneficiaries are the "get tough" politicos.

[RosyDaisy]

This law already exists in Alabama. These women need help not shame and incarceration.

[doggie]

Politicians will never admit they were wrong.

well because they never are :angry-banghead: :pull-hair:

[imokit]

I've seen babies withdrawing and its not pretty. The one which sticks with me, is the case where it wasn't the mother's fault. She had a chronic pain issue, was being prescribed opiates throughout her pregnancy by her normal adult specialists. She took them as prescribed because she needed them. Those Drs didn't think about the fact she was pregnant, and didn't warn her of the risks to the baby. Nor did they mention it to the midwives and she didn't know to mention it to them (she didn't see an Ob as this is the UK and low risk pregnancies, as she was thought to be, are managed by very well trained, highly skilled midwives).

Had she known, she likely would have suffered extra pain to prevent the baby's withdrawals. Had she made another choice, then that would have been OK too, she needed pain relief, but it would have been a proper decision.

The baby and parents went through an awful time on the NICU. The idea of her being charged with assault disgusts me.

As does the idea of an unwell woman struggling with addiction. Addiction is an illness, pregnancy doesn't make it magically dissapear :pull-hair:

Those women need support. They need assessment by CPS to work out what support they'll need to look after the baby, and to intervene if they struggle. But it needs to be assumed that with help, they can parent. And taking a baby away as a neonate, will ruin things. Even if you give it back later, that bonding will be lost.

There also needs to be allowances made that those babies will be fussier and harder to look after than other babies because of the changes the opioids make to their body. Extra support in the first few months can fix that, but the best hope for everyone is too support mother & baby together!

[FloraKitty35]

Of course, these laws apply to poor (and usually) minority women. If a (rich) well connected, white "good Christian" Republicant woman was caught doing the same thing or worse, it will just be an honest mistake or no big deal. :roll: :twisted:

[Jana814]

well because they never are :angry-banghead: :pull-hair:

Good point.

[CelticGoddess]

They tried a similar law in SC. It was repealed rather quickly because SC saw a marked increase in neonatal death. Women were not going to their OB for fear of being arrested. There are better ways to handle this situation than to arrest women on assault. Too many pols just want to look like they are doing something and this is how they do it.

[apandaaries]

This went on in the 1980s and '90s during the crack cocaine epidemic, with the same reasoning and the same results. Several states--Florida is the one I remember--passed laws charging women who gave birth with the drug in their systems with assault. Turning their mothers into felons will help vulnerable babies how, exactly?

If such a law worked in scaring women straight, it would have some justification. I have adopted drug exposed children, and I know they can have a very rough start. But it doesn't work, so the only beneficiaries are the "get tough" politicos.

"Getting tough" with addicts (or criminals) never seems to work. We would be a nation without crime if that idea held merit.

Unfortunately, it's just a nice soundbite for politicians and a good rallying point for undereducated voters.

Don't know how many have read up on this, but the worries about the crack cocaine babies turned out to be rather unfounded. While the infants did have issues, they seemed to be related more to their premature birth than to their prenatal exposure to cocaine (not that it's great to ingest whilst pregnant, but alcohol, for example, is far more harmful). Please note, I am not a Degreed Medical Professional, but I did read up on this extensively a few years ago. I found this from the NY Times, but there are lots of other resources about this out there: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27coca.html

[Alexa]

Absolutely terrible idea and terrible law. All I can do is shake my head when I see laws like this pass.

[LadyBlue]

National Advocates for Pregnant Women (http://www.advocatesforpregnantwomen.org) certainly have their work cut out for them. These type of laws are one reason why they are vehemently opposed to any kind of personhood law; because even laws that aren't meant to demonize pregnant women are being used against them. For example, several states have laws that were meant to protect children from being in/around meth labs. Many prosecutors have managed to extend those laws to cover pregnant women who do drugs. Heck I read about a case recently where a woman said she might be pregnant. She was put in jail, for 10 months. Before they figured out she wasn't and never had been pregnant.

And then there's people like Bei Bei Shuai and Purvi Patel. *sigh*

It's just horrible the way pregnant women are losing their rights in the US, even the right to birth how they want (there have been several unnecessary, forced cesareans recently). http://advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/bl ... post_5.php

[StopUsingPurposeAsAVerb]

Jesus, I hate the right wing fear mongering in this country.

[Toothfairy]

I took care of drug addicted babies. It's not easy. It's sad and scary watching an infant withdraw. But addicts need help not prison. The only thing that this bill is going to do is risk the lives of children born addicted to drugs.

[Jana814]

Of course, these laws apply to poor (and usually) minority women. If a (rich) well connected, white "good Christian" Republicant woman was caught doing the same thing or worse, it will just be an honest mistake or no big deal. :roll: :twisted:

Agree!!