Should Drug Abuse Moms Be Granted Custody of Their Infants After Birth: The Ethical Issue

Introduction

Over the years, "crack babies and Crack moms" as they are dubbed have been subjected to vigorous public debates on the legality and morality of having them behind bars and having their newborn children taken away from them. Much of the discussion is grounded and governed by the fact that popular press and several medical journals punitively judge drug abuse moms based on medical misinformation and speculation. Most respondents believe that the call to have all women who have a history of using drugs during pregnancy arrested and their children taken from them is harsh, judgemental and unethical at the same time.

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Despite the fact that documented evidence reveals that drugs such as DES and thalidomide can severely affect the health of a new-born exposed to them prenatally, the recent outburst on the possible damage of prenatal exposure to cocaine is considered biased. Concerns that should have become a matter of rational scientific inquiries forming a basis for constructive and compassionate discussions have quickly been turned into conclusive policies that all prenatally exposed children should be separated from their parents (Lambert, Scheiner, & Campbell, 2014).

The policies submit that all children exposed to prenatal drug substances are subject to irrevocable health damages and their mothers should, therefore, be blamed for irresponsible and selfish drug-taking, culminating to a sentence behind bars, away from their children. The ethical problem being discussed in this paper entails the fact that separating a newborn child who was prenatally exposed to abused drugs from the mother is discriminative, judgemental and morally unjustified as well as against child-mother rights (Lambert, Scheiner, Campbell, 2014).

The problem of illicit drug abuse crosses all social classes and races, yet this particular debate is more often than not directed towards African-American women whose reliance is on welfare. Hui, Angelota & Fisher (2017) posit that the most rational way to deal with mothers who were drug abusers while pregnant entails education and treatment rather than subjecting them to punishment and denying them custody to their children. In the recent past, many of these new mothers and pregnant women have been arrested for fetal-abuse and their children taken to foster care, as in the case of Jennifer Johnson in the state of Florida who was charged with "the delivery of drugs to her infant child" and convicted to 18 years of probation. Reports however indicate that women, especially those of the African-American origin have been targeted disproportionately for related arrests and punishment, not because they are worse drug abusers or mothers, but primarily because of their inadequate access to prenatal care, inability to conform to contemporary middle-class (white) motherhood standards, and are vulnerable to immense government monitoring.

Drawing from the arguments of Lambart, Scheiner and Campbell (2014) , it would be unethical to judge this women and deny them motherhood rights, leave alone denying their infants the warmth of their moms, based on the fact that they are drug abusers, oblivious to the fact that there is always a complex history behind a pregnant woman's use of substances, for example, violent sexual abuse. In a recent scientific study, it was discovered that 70% of addicted pregnant women were victims of rape and violent domestic relationships. Some of these women abuse drugs during pregnancy to numb the pain of traumatic and violent life experiences.

In fact, treating a pregnant substance drug abuser as a "fetal abuser" will not help or make the lives of the innocent children better, but instead, further the agenda of undermining women's right and to some extent the rights of this children to be under the loving care of their mothers. In some studies, public health workers continue to challenge the punishment of pregnant substance abusers, leaving out male substance abusers who can also cause damage to sperm genetics. In most instances, the court takes the capacity of a woman to become pregnant as a matter of difference between females and males, extending judgemental convictions on substance abusers based on newer clauses like "fetal abuse", which applies to only women, and in recent instances, those from African-American racial inclination (Hui, Angelota & Fisher, 2017).

Owing to the fact that most supreme court rulings define substance and drug-use as mental or psychological problems, tremendous evidence reveals that treatment programs and interventions have proven to be a valuable tool for drug-using pregnant women. It is noteworthy to point out that some treatment and intervention programs include the court system from implementation and execution. In addition, preventive intervention efforts should be developed as early as possible in pregnancy or following the birth of a child automatically qualifying drug-exposed infants. The sole purpose of the interventions should be aimed at minimizing risk factors while enhancing protective factors in a culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate manner that is both unbiased and ethical, without necessarily stereotyping women of a given race or denying them custody of their new-born babies. Instead, the interventions should capitalize on the desire of a mother to keep her baby, motivating her to enroll in change programs that work within her the readiness to adopt and assume a drug-free lifestyle in a fair and non-prejudicial societal set-up (Lambert, Scheiner & Campbell, 2014). The development of coordinated multidisciplinary programs interconnected with services that emphasize on the needs of these mothers and their children is paramount in enhancing the treatment. The programmes include relapse expectation as a model for treatment and mechanism which helps in reducing relapses, for example transitioning back to the society. Follow-up should be done extensively as an integral treatment method. Therefore, it is important to recognize that both abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment and point out that abuse is more visible and the easy to diagnose. The development of interventions and strategies such as the initiation of follow-up state programs from early headstart through to preschool services while closely monitoring the mother are vital in promoting inclusivity, building attachment relationships between the mother and the child while creating an ethical environment that is both fair and motivational compelling the mother to change (Hui, Angelota & Fisher, 2017).

Consequently, the special focus ought to be invested in the evaluation of drug treatment and intervention programs in enabling new moms recovering from drug abuse to adequately function as necessitated by societal precepts. In the implementation of the treatment and intervention measures, it is vital for researchers to establish the demographics of prenatal drug abusers such as social, geographical or minority status to guide the development of approaches that serve as an alternative to denying mothers custody of their children. Evidence-based studies reveal an in-depth disconnect between practice, existent knowledge, and current policies in regard to maternal drug use and substance abuse during pregnancy. For instance, in the past decade, drug control budgets have been doubled, however, the proportional allocation set aside for prevention and treatment interventions still remain the same despite the tremendous gains made in research on the effectiveness of the methods in reducing drug dependency and ultimately, ensuring that a mother and her child stay together (Hui, Angelota & Fisher, 2017).

Arguably, the most prevalent challenges facing drug-using new mothers entails societal attitudes where most of us are still willing to punish mothers for abusing drugs while pregnant. As long as the community opts to employ punitive modes of handling the case of drug-abuse mothers and their infants, children will always find themselves in harm's way. In fact, the system itself harms them by denying them a normal life, increasing the numbers of children being enrolled in out-of-home placement, subjecting them to prejudicial labeling as damaged children (Products of drug-abuse mothers), while undermining any possible chances for them to form lasting, attachment relationships with their biological mothers. Therefore, in my opinion, we ought to focus on providing less punitive solutions to the issue in strict consideration of ethical dictates. Punishing and denying a new mom custody of her child is not and will never be in the best interest of both the mother and the new-born baby neither will it ensue in reduced cases of drug-abuse amongst pregnant women (Hui, Angelota & Fisher, 2017). Indisputably, a national consensus ought to be initiated and developed in respect to the state-of-art knowledge in scientific and evidence-based research, demonstrating unbiased and fair attitudes towards these female drug users who expose their children to the prenatal drug through, the interventions proposed herein that are rather justified, biracial and ethical. This entails viewing all instances of drug abuse and substance use from a common lens, be it a White or African-American, whether female or male, regardless of political, social and legal status considerations, so that the impact of prenatal exposure on a child can be assessed adequately, leading to rational and ethically appropriate policy making.

References

Hui, K., Angelotta, C., & Fisher, C. E. (2017). Criminalizing substance use in pregnancy: misplaced priorities. Addiction, 112(7), 1123-1125.

Lambert, B., Scheiner, M., & Campbell, D. (2014). Ethical issues and addiction. In Women, Children, and Addiction (pp. 60-70). Routledge.