Post by pavel on Apr 4, 2016 2:04:33 GMT -6
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Brittany Hudson was pregnant, addicted to painkillers and afraid of a Tennessee law that calls for the arrest of mothers of drug-dependent babies. She eventually gave birth without medical help, on the side of a road in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Hudson's dilemma, doctors say, was one of many unintended consequences of the Tennessee Legislature's decision in 2014 to become the first and only state with an explicit criminal offense for these addicted mothers.
The law was meant to deter drug abuse by threatening mothers with up to a year behind bars, while allowing them to avoid jail and have their assault convictions removed if they got drug treatment. It was also an experiment with a "sunset" clause, meaning it will expire this July because the law's supporters lacked the votes to extend it.
The problem of drug use and pregnancy is worsening nationwide, with a drug-dependent baby born every 25 minutes in the U.S. at a cost of $1.5 billion in additional health care, according to a Vanderbilt study. And states can't just arrest their way out of it, said Dr. Stephen Patrick, a neonatologist who co-authored the study.
Read more: www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2016/apr/4/doctors-applaud-end-of-tennessees-fetal-assault-law/
Hudson's dilemma, doctors say, was one of many unintended consequences of the Tennessee Legislature's decision in 2014 to become the first and only state with an explicit criminal offense for these addicted mothers.
The law was meant to deter drug abuse by threatening mothers with up to a year behind bars, while allowing them to avoid jail and have their assault convictions removed if they got drug treatment. It was also an experiment with a "sunset" clause, meaning it will expire this July because the law's supporters lacked the votes to extend it.
The problem of drug use and pregnancy is worsening nationwide, with a drug-dependent baby born every 25 minutes in the U.S. at a cost of $1.5 billion in additional health care, according to a Vanderbilt study. And states can't just arrest their way out of it, said Dr. Stephen Patrick, a neonatologist who co-authored the study.
Read more: www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2016/apr/4/doctors-applaud-end-of-tennessees-fetal-assault-law/