Do you think women who use drugs during prenancy should be prosecuted after a warning.?

Question

I am doing a theisis on this subject and would like some opinions. Thank you

Answer 1

Ooooo, what a 'Pandora's Box'. I say NO because

1. Then the right to abortion is undermined
2. Too subjective, open to interpretation: Who determines what is a 'drug' - is pot a drug? I say pot should be okay but someone else may say no...What about alcohol - how much is too much? What about prescription drugs - and prescription drug ABUSE...what consitutes abuse? How many ciggarettes per day or coffee is or isn't acceptable - and who sets the standards? What about over-the-counter medications (example:Tylenol 3 with codeine)? I knew someone once who was addicted to that...Is that prosecuteable - or not?
3. How would this be enforced, who would enforce it, what would penalties be...and all of this mired in a seemingly bottomless pit of social problems...very flattering for America.
4. These people are addicts and alcoholics: the American Medical Association has recognised acoholism (for sure) as a disease for many years now. Science is providing an ever-increasing body of evidence underscoring the link between addiction and genetic predisposition to these diseases: how on earth can someone be penalised for being ill?
5. Who would do the rehab? There must be opportunities for rehab...if there is a punishment then there needs to be an effort to help sick people - things must be BALANCED and FAIR. There is an acute shortage of such facilities in the best of times! Who will pay for this once there is infrastructure in place to deal with it? Who will pay for the infrastructure (clinics, etc). ?Most of these people are WITHOUT health insurance in the first place - how will this be addressed in the absence of socialised medicine?

A positive nightmare in the courts; unenforceable; impossible to facilitate and further erodes hard-won existing rights; too subjective; open to abuse (false accusations)...Ethical problems, legal problems, enforcement problems and MORE...I say very bad, poorly thought-out idea...forget about it!

Answer 2

I am in the middle of my third pregnancy. I stopped drinking caffeine and taking prescription meds and whatever I have to to help my baby be healthy. I think women should get one shot at getting into rehab. Then they should be prosecuted, harshly. They will ruin a human's life. They are horribly selfish and really not fit to be mother's. It sounds bad, but being a mother is a responsibility. You give up a lot more than drinking or drugs to be a good mom, you give up a lot of personal time and a lot of the things you once thought were important in favor of putting your kids' needs first. I do have sympathy for how hard it is to break an addiction. I am a biologist and know what addiction does to the brain and how hard it is to fight your own body, but that is no excuse. It not like they had to start in the first place and there are a lot of ways to get help.
Just one mother's rant.

Answer 3

What kind of drugs?

Heavy narcotics that are already banned from use even if you're not pregnant, then yes.

Drinking and using tobacco (unless in the case of intentionally trying to abort) should not.

For years nobody had problems with this. Things like not drinking, limiting caffiene intake, and not eating spicy foods has done little to nothing to help deter birth defects. I know a girl who followed every single rule and still ended up having a child with birth defects. Her mother, however, used marijuana and meth while pregnant and she is perfectly normal.

It's all a matter of chance.

Sorry to ramble, but you said you wanted an opinion!

Answer 4

I think women who are pregnant and use drugs have an obvious addiction. And the addiction needs to be treated, or at least the opportunity should be given to seek treatment. Any women who would use drugs while pregnant is obviously suffering from addiction. And placing her in prison is not going to be as helpful to the mother or the child. I think this should be the first thought, then the threat of prosecution if necessary to protect the child. Just my opinion. God bless****

Answer 5

I dont understand why women who do drugs, and do some really crazy things in order to get those drugs, seem to shy away from being on birth control. I mean come on ladies, its not like your concerned about your health or anything. Then on top of it, these are women who most of the time dont even want the kid they end up pregnant with, but instead of having an abortion, they insist on carrying the baby to term and doing drugs the entire time. They dont stop there either, they end up raising those kids to be dysfunctional and then surprise, another generation of drug users. Druggies should abort, plain and simple.

Answer 6

People who use drugs get prosecuted anyway. Anyway it is a problem though, as long as it is in her womb the child has no rights whatsoever and can be exposed to legal stuff, like Alkohol.

Answer 7

No. Police enforcers in my country have a motto, jail the pusher, not the user.

Those women probably can't help it, even if they know it's bad for their baby. That's why it's called ADDICTION!

The government should help get them into rehab to save the baby. Prosecuting them is not the answer.

Answer 8

NO. They should be prosecuted the first time no warning!! I'm not even a anti abortion nut either. There are somethings that should have no warnings and anything that STUPID should be one of them.

Answer 9

Yes they should. Also women who smoke and drink should also be prosecuted.

Answer 10

I have seen too many preemies already hooked that my answer is absolutely. Fetal alcohol syndrome is so prevalent today in babies whose mother is an addict and alcohol. Would be good to include in your thesis.