Should drinking alcohol and consuming drugs while pregnant be made illegal?

Question

Here I want to discuss something that not too many people seem to talk about. This is regarding women who drink alcohol and/or take drugs (or any unlawful substance) while they are pregnant, and whether it should be against the law to do so. What do you think? I personally believe that yes, it should be illegal. I think if a policeman or some kind of authority figure walks in a bar and sees a pregnant woman drinking, then he should have every right to detain her for child endangerment. If people see a pregnant woman looking high and walking down the street, then they should notify the cops. Besides, it IS doing harm to an unborn child, which is, I believe, against the law. However, I do know that some people may argue that if a woman decides to consume drugs and/or alcohol in HER body and if it's affecting HER child, then it is her issue to deal with.

Answer 1

Yes it should be illegal... the same way that giving a child alcohol or drugs is illegal. Pregnant women who take drugs, smoke, or drink need to accept the fact that their bodies are no longer theirs and theirs alone.

Answer 2

Well consuming any illegal drugs is against the law anyway so thats a moot point...as for alchohol, its proven that a glass or two of wine every now and then whilst pregnant may not have any effect on the baby so how can they make it illegal? Its a woman's right to choose how and what she does to her body and that of the baby.
If a cop walked into a bar and saw a pregnant woman heavily intoxicated then he would have the right to tell her to leave the bar but not to stop drinking at all.
I enjoy a glass of wine here and there while pregnant and my children are both fine. I don't think you can make it illegal and call it child endangerment because they aren't classified as a living child if they aren't born yet (fact, not my opinion).

I suppose there really isn't anything you can do about heavy drinking whilst pregnant because as you said, its her body and her child and she has to deal with any later issues, not us.

I think a glass of wine every now and then is totally fine and should not be frowned upon by anyone. But heavy drinking, well, Each to their own right?

Answer 3

Should it be illegal? Of course. Could or would it be enforced?? Highly unlikely. You give the example of a pregnant woman drinking in a bar. Well how do you know she's drinking alcohol? How do you know she's pregnant and not just plus size? Why in the hell would a cop be in the bar anyway? You give the example of a woman walking down the street looking high. How do you know she hasn't had a terrible prescription medication interaction? How do you know she doesn't have a chemical imbalance? Or she has a medical condition that makes her walk and act funny? There are too many factors, too many what ifs.

Answer 4

SHOULD it be illegal? Yes! WILL it ever be illegal? No!
The problem is once you start enforcing restrictions where do you stop? If you say "no" to pregnant women drinking alcohol and using drugs what about smoking cigarettes? They are legal (like alcohol) and can also produce lower birth weight babies. How about women who just eat and eat and eat thinking that being pregnant means they don't have to worry about how much weight they are putting on? This leads to higher occurrences of gestational diabetes which can be very detrimental to the foetus and cause higher risk of preterm birth which can have a host of problems associated to it. And how about monitoring the amount of deep water fish a woman eats because it can cause raised levels of mercury in her body causing birth defects in the baby or cured meats like salami which can introduce dangerous bacteria causing the mother to be ill which then takes more away from the baby nutrient wise.

Your argument is a good one and I totally agree with you but you can't change people unless you have a "police state" government. It's not fair but it's life. It's kind of a modern form of Natural Selection.

Answer 5

Very interesting question!

I think in a way it is already illegal; however it is difficult to prosecute until the child is actually born. I guess it is illegal to use cociane, weed, heroin etc. and the penalties are there and possibly should be more serious for women who are pregnant.

I think the physician's should have a requirement to report it if they find out this information during a prenatal visit. Just as they would have to report suspected abuse of a living breathing child.

I don't think a woman has a right to harm the unborn baby.

Answer 6

absolutely. why should an innocent child have to live with the disablilites of a special needs life when it could have been prevented? I have an ex-friend that did drugs, smoked and drank while she was pregnant and her child is very sick, living off tubes and so on, she takes no blame for what she did to him. and by the way, the doctors say he wont live past 30. he will just suffer his whole short life while she lives in denial. they should have thrown her in the slammer so she would have been clean until he was born. then, even tho he has a shitty mother, he could have been 'normal'

Answer 7

I believe it should be illegal anyway but that's beside the point. Once the fetus is at the point where it is no longer legal to get an adoption, it should be illegal to smoke, drink, do drugs etc... These people portray a disgusting disregard for human life, far worse than an adoption in my opinion, because when the child is aborted it dies before even being aware. If it's born with some serious defects, you're basically torturing the child for the rest of his/her life for your dumb choices.

Answer 8

well one drugs are illegal regardless so the mother will get aressted for that regardless. as for alcohol lots of people who live in diffrent countries will drink every so often while pregnate and their babys are fine. also doctors say that its ok to have a glass of red wine a month. so it would be hard to find out whos drinking with in limits and whos doing it to get drunk. any way even if the women does endager her child in the end she will most likely get it back.

Answer 9

It is, and the child is taken away if the mother has drugs in system. That's why no one talks about it.

"Some states consider prenatal substance abuse as part of their child welfare laws. Therefore prenatal drug exposure can provide grounds for terminating parental rights because of child abuse or neglect. These states include: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. "
I'm in ohio.

And more laws here http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/illegaldrugs.html

Answer 10

It's against the law to do substances anyway, hence the name 'unlawful substance'.

And no, a police officer should NOT detain a woman for drinking. Most likely, she's having a glass of wine to celebrate something. I had a glass of red wine for a celebration and a woman that I did not know came flying across the room and ripped it out of my hand. It was the only beverage I'd had the entire pregnancy and she had just embarassed the snot out of me and herself. Naturally, I was furious and had the woman escorted from the resturaunt by the manager.