Prenatal Drug Abuse: Prosecuting Women for Substance Use - Essay Sample

Introduction

Prenatal drug abuse is the use of illicit substances by women during pregnancy. Forray (2016), states that there are up to 40% of pregnant women in the United States with a lifetime drug use disorder (Drug Alcohol Depend. 2005). These women face different prosecutions, which help to refrain from alcohol and substance use. The paper will analyze and demonstrate some of the prosecutions and statutes for women in prenatal abuse.

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Three Rationales Used to Prosecute Women in Prenatal Abuse

First is the deterrent effect on the criminal prosecutions such that women already prosecuted will refrain from using drugs during any likely future pregnancies and thus serve to their peers as examples (Stone-Manista, 2009). The second rationale refrains from having an interest in the health of the women and their unborn children and leans on retribution, which bases its belief on women who commits wrongful moral acts intentionally and hold them responsible. It focusses on punishing the mistake done by the mother and not for reasons to protect the child (Stone-Manista, 2009). The last prosecution rationale is detaining pregnant women. These allow the relevant authority to monitor the behavior of these women particularly on prenatal and medical care (Stone-Manista, 2009).

Six Statutes for Prosecution

The first statute in the prosecutions under the delivery of a drug. In this type of statute, prosecutions rely on drug delivery. It focuses on the distribution of drugs in the body of women, from the empirical cord to the fetus. Second is the prosecution under child abuse statutes and it has differing arguments. For example, In Reyes v. Supreme Court, the California court explicated that a fetus is not a person for the purpose of the murder statute (Lombardo, 1991). There are also prosecutions under manslaughter statutes, which are based on prenatal drug use. In this statute the court compares the case law from around the world, for example, the Hawaii prosecution made a verdict that pregnant women who used drugs were guilty of the death of the unborn child. The other statute is contemplation of prenatal drug use, which has an emphasis on terminating prenatal rights (Lombardo, 1991). This happens when a pregnant woman uses alcohol or drug substance but they are restricted from assessing treatment or prenatal and medical care. The statute establishes a criminal prosecution for this kind of woman. However, they are only prosecuted for drug-related injuries, which they might cause to the fetus. There is need for gender equality for this type of protection statute.

Comparison

Prosecutor statutes Relevant Not relevant

Procedural Due Process And Vagueness Substantive Due Process and Privacy

Health Care Response to Prosecutions Equal Protection

Prosecutions Do Not Satisfy the Intended Goal Maternal Interests Versus Fatal Interests

We can conclude that prenatal drug abuse is a matter of choice, and when the court decided to save the unborn, discard the issues of privacy and to try to make a similar ruling, the mother is to be held accountable for the choices she has made (Horn, 2008). Relevant topics such as the goal intended and the laws put in place to achieve it has to be considered.

Alternatives to Prosecution

There are three alternatives to prosecution under the abuse and delivery statutes (Horn, 2008). First is the statute that is curated to prenatal drug abuse. It is supported by the argument that women have lost the privacy rights as their illegal acts and the interest the state has on the unborn. Second is the civil sanctions. It has been proven that the commitment of the users for drug substances is the solution to the prenatal abuse problem. Last is the increase in funding for voluntary treatment. According to Horn (2008), the best way to reduce drug exposure is by educating childbearing age women about the dangers of drug use to the unborn child.

References

Horn, M. (2008). Mothers Versus Babies: Constitutional and Policy Problems with Prosecutions for Prenatal Maternal Substance Abuse. Wm. & Mary j. WOmeN & l., 14, 635. Retrieved from: file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Mothers%20Versus%20Babies_%20Prenatal%20Maternal%20Substance%20Abuse__Horn_2008.pdf

Stone-Manista, K. (2009). Protecting Pregnancy Women: A Guide to Successfully Challenging Criminal Child Abuse Prosecutions of Pregnant Drug Addicts. J. Crim. L. & Criminology, 99, 823. Retrieved from: file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Protecting%20Pregnant%20Women%20....Criminal%20Child%20Abuse%20Prosecutions%20__2009.pdf

Lombardo, C. (1991). Mothers' prenatal drug use: Sufficient grounds for juvenile court jurisdiction. J. Juv. L., 12, 116. Retrieved from: file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Mothers%20Prenatal%20Drug%20Use__Juvenile% 0Court__Lombardo__1991.pdf

Forray, A. (2016). Substance use during pregnancy. F1000Research, 5. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4870985