Most of these children won't have to be protected from their parents if we do what's necessary to get their parents help.

Exactly.

locking them up wont solve the problem - but its a start - the children need to be protected.

How is putting a woman in jail about "protecting" children? Let's take your crack baby in special ed (and how do you, or that kid, know that crack was the sole or sufficient cause of whatever problems he/she has?--I'll match your anecdote with this one): how would throwing his mom in jail make *any* difference in his prognosis?

Look. If people want to improve the lives of children, they'll start by improving the lives of women who have children. Anything else is just bullshit, thrown around to make us feel better about not doing a damn thing to actually help people. After all, it's all mommy's fault.

I personally think that all procreation should be put on an indefinite hold until we un-fuck the planet. After that, it should take a license to have a child. (I always thought that was funny. People who want to adopt a child have to go through a screening process that would have caught the Pope in barbed wire, but trailer-trash, idiots, vermin, poor excuses for humanity, people who watch American Idol, whatever; they can squeeze out as many kids as their organs will allow them without anybody being able to say anything. We should take god/women's rights to be mothers/that slippy-dippy little "ooohhh, look at the baby" feeling we get any time somebody breaks out pictures of their genetic excrement/whatever out of the equation and start looking at this from a purely scientific point of view. The population of our planet is going up faster than the planet can adapt to it. I'm with Bill Maher on this one: It's not like we're re-building after the great flood or something. They should start sterilizing people, pronto...

Um , how about if they are locked up they won't be doing meth.

The baby is saved, she kicks her habit and gets forced into a rehab or halfway house and doesn't break into my house to buy more meth and make more meth babies. Everyones a winner.
Problem solved.

Oh wait , I forgot . That won't work cause of course it's all societys fault she chose get prego and use drugs. We should have provided a more nurturing enviornment. Then she wouldn't have been forced to be a criminal. It's our fault. My GOD ! It's my fault , I'm soooO sorry.

Ok all bullshit aside. They obviously should get some help not additional charges. But what are you thinking? they should get a free pass on meth because they're pregnant ? Cause thats what it sounds like.

It must be fun being so dumb.

how about if they are locked up they won't be doing meth.

Right, because there are no drugs in prison.

I dont think that women who smoke meth, while pregnant should be able to have babies, or keep them for that matter

I dont think that women who smoke meth, while pregnant should be able to have babies

How do you plan on preventing that? By forcing them to have abortions? Or do you have some kind of hotline to god, where you can make women infertile just by wishing it?

True, but once they have them, it would be pretty easy to revoke custody, if the state chose to do so.

Look I dont give a fuck if your pregnant siamese lebanese into drug trickeries people who use meth should eat shit and die.

If you are interested in "saving" the children; they should remain with their parents (drug abuse, jail, whatever). All of the research and information out there points in that direction. Foster care homes/temporary placements do not help. Remaining with their parents and being coerced into some sort of therapy/treatment is the answer. As emotionally uncomfortable as that sounds it is the truth. The only situations where re-unification with "prosecuted" parents is in sexual abuse.
As ridiculous as it sounds, yes it is societies fault. Thousands of years ago there were close to 4 adults to raise every child in a village. Now there is 1 single mother trying to raise 4 children. Then the child goes to a classroom with one teacher for 30 kids. This isn't some sort of anomaly so how could it be denied that it is a cultural and societal problem? It is a system that has been created slowly for hundreds of years and until this problem is accepted and addressed, we're fucked.
There was recently a conference in Anaheim about Meth, Children, families and the legal system. So, fortunately there are more and more programs starting up that are making progress in this field (SAMHSA and Children and Family Futures). Unfortunately most people dont want to hear about it because they have not the slightest clue about addiction. It is easy to persecute on the basis it is a moral decision and therefore they are bad parents. Obviously in our system, once you're in, it's pretty fucking hard to get out of it. And if you dont understand why people/mothers turn to drugs in the face of such harsh consequences it's easy to judge.
People say to lock up the parents/mothers and take the kids away. Where are those kids going to go? Think about it; who wants to adopt a crack/meth addicted child? If they don't get adopted they go to some large foster home where they get little to no individual attention and most likely wind up worse than if they had to live with their crack/meth addicted parents. At least if they remain together the chance for success still exists.

Stay away from drugs, even caffeine, during pregnancy. Don't smoke, either. Our school systems are full of damaged kids who experienced "fetal alcohol syndrome." They are fucked for life.

JoseB

i think that sometimes criminals just have to be punished for what they do. it would've helped those kids a lot more if their deadbeat mothers hadn't been smoking that shit.

huh

yeah meth is fucked up.Of course rehab is a better option. thats stating the obvious!!!But what can ya do!...if anything then congrats!

Meth users are some of the most fucked up drug users i have ever seen.Poor babies...