(sorry if I repeat anything that's already been said, I haven't read the whole thread yet...)
Anyway, I don't understand why this is a new measure - it's already illegal to use meth, whether you're pregnant or not. Are pregnant people just going to get harsher sentences or what? Also, does it matter if the person is planning on carrying the baby to term? If a person is planning to have an abortion, are they exempt from the law?

I mostly support the law - I think drug use while pregnant causes lasting damage to children, and should be stopped. But I do think treatment-based programmes are a much more effective solution than incarceration, though.

And Bitch_PHD, it wasn't very nice of you to smoke while pregnant. My grandmother did that, and my mum was born partially deaf as a result. It's not all some right-wing conspiracy, using drugs while pregnant does put your child's health in very real danger. When people suggest that drugs aren't harmful to unborn children and it's just anti-drug propaganda, it reminds me of the people who think global warming is just some left-wing conspiracy. Basically, it's stupid and mean.

By the time a woman is showing enough to be obviously and unavoidably pregnant, the damage to the fetus is going to have been pretty well started, don't you think? How would locking the pregnant woman up in this case 'save' the baby?

I don't think that's what was said. This isn't about women who are already arrested for drug-related charges NOT being charged because they're knocked up, this is about women being charged for being pregnant and using, itself. Different deal.

plus with certain drugs it would harm the fetus much more to throw the woman in jail. if a heroin addict gets pregnant and continues to use the best thing to happen is for her to be put in a treatment program, be prescribed methadone and a proper diet until the baby is born. babies born addicted to methadone are slowly weaned off and usually turn out fine.

My deepest apologies. I foolishly assumed that my assertion that it would be a good idea to lock up an infant for developing within the womb of a drug addicted mother would be so obviously absurd, no one would have taken me seriously.

My bad.

If you want my real opinion, here it is. Give the mother ONE chance to clean up her act. If she fails to do so, to hell with her. I'm all about women's rights, do not be mistaken. However, I think a child's right to live a healthy life far exceeds that of any adult who is making the decision to interfere with that. (disease, weakness, or whatever) If someone continues to put a child at risk by using drugs or whatever the case maybe, I have no sympathy for that person at all, nor do I really care what happens to them.

that's nice. anyway.

so a mother has one chance to clean up her act. she doesn't. what do you do with her? lock her up in a straightjacket and forcefeed her vitamins? put her in a coma until her baby is born then give it up for adoption? not sure how jail would help anyone involved. sometimes people need loving care, like 2 or 3 chances..a place to live, a kind doctor, etc.

it's so weird how people have totally different opinions when it comes to aborted fetuses and fetuses that will not be aborted. i mean, can a woman do whatever she wants to her body if she plans to abort the baby anyway? can she smoke crack and shoot up heroin and speed if she isn't gonna keep it? is that ok with y'all?

Hey, great policy, maybe we can get Santa Claus to head up the program.

Meanwhile, back in reality, you can get drugs readily in prison, the kids get shoved in foster care, beaten abused and neglected and twelve years from now they steal your car and you get two lost generations.

As for "free pass", try reading the articles. These women are getting "caught" because they seek medical care while pregnant. Way to disincentivize treatment for those who need it most.

I'm very excited that a bunch of young, single, affluent white men, who are almost exclusively who has responded in the negative here, have it all figured out for the rest of us.

I'd also like to point out what a bloated load of crap that statement is.

First of all, as I mentioned before. Choices. Choose to put down the drugs and get some help. It's out there. All over the place. Not everyone has to go to Betty Ford. Leave the fucking drugs at home and start with an NA meeting. If you want to get off meth/drug addiction you can. It's a choice.

Second, at least for Wyoming, the article YOU quote says

Choices/responsibilities.

You need a fucking time-out.

no shit. if you're going to be a doctor please do the world a favor and don't work with pregnant ladies.

you don't know her. you don't know if she had a cigarette a week and a glass of wine with dinner every few days. WHICH IS FINE. your violent, self righteous rant is really freaky mister.

I think people are lashing out a little harshly on this one. Obviously, no one wants to see children harmed as a result of drug use and I don't think anyone was implying that.

If you've spent any time working in in or out-patient rehabilitation clinics for drug users you know this is a slippery issue. The article first referenced stated that low-income mothers seemed to be getting hit the hardest, and this makes sense. The care available in higher income rehabilitation clinics and safe houses just isn't present in lower income houses. I know because I've worked in several. Drugs are all over the place and readily available. Counselors aren't paid what they should be (who wants to work someplace where your life is in danger?) Mostly the harder, cheaper and more destructive drugs are available, too, like meth. Go to an upscale rehab and you have yuppies smuggling in valium and drinking hair spray when they get desperate. But everything is much more strictly policed.

Similarly with jails. Some jails (particularly for non-violent offenders in California) are privately run and cater to upper-middle to upper class people. As long as you haven't committed assault or rape or murder you can be someplace free from the "dregs" of society. Where do you think celebrities go when they have to do jail time? It doesn't take a genius to realize drugs are going to be more prevelant in the lower-income jails where the drugs are cheaper, more dangerous, etc. It is very much a class and race issue.

The addiction issue is a bottom pit argument. You can say its nothing but weakness and will power. I say that's simplification and ignorance. You say black, I say white. Personally, because I've worked with addicts and seen the way it can obliterate lives, I don't take it so lightly as "well, if they have no will-power, fuck 'em". If you've seen a person (many of whom THEMSELVES were children of abusive and drug abusing parents) spiral out of control and into the mercy of the state machine as many times as I have you would have a bit more sympathy. What these women need is help. This is an issue we need to be paying more attention and time to. It's as simple as that. There is no easy answer like: charge them with child abuse, ship the kid off to a foster home and forget the whole thing. Not that easy. Sorry.

Dude, you're going WAY overboard. Take a chill pill. Stop attacking her

Women who do drugs whilst pregnant don't deserve to have children. It's revolting. I see no end of pregnant girls in the club I work at and I just think, you stupid uncaring bitch. Go home and do yourself and your baby a favour. Then again, if they want to fuck their kids up, who am I to convince them otherwise?