Criminalizing Motherhood

[1a2b3c]

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20031215&s=talvi

Regina McKnight is doing twelve years in prison for a stillbirth, carving out a dangerous intersection between the drug war and the antichoice movement. In the eyes of the South Carolina Attorney General's office, McKnight committed murder

Her crime? Giving birth to a five-pound, stillborn baby. As McKnight grieved and held her third daughter Mercedes's lifeless body, she could never have imagined that she was about to become the first woman in America convicted for murder by using cocaine while pregnant.

The absence of any scientific research linking cocaine use to stillbirth didn't matter. Nor did it matter that the state couldn't conclusively prove that McKnight's cocaine use actually caused Mercedes's stillbirth. What mattered was that South Carolina prosecutors were hellbent on using McKnight as an example.

Approximately 275 women nationwide have already faced charges relating to drug use during their pregnancies, says Paltrow. In a country where a pregnant woman has no legal right to safe housing, daycare, nutritious food, medical care or mental health services, it's horrifying to witness the development of a law that allows for women's bodies to be treated as if they were mere vessels.

[DemExpat]

1. So tragic, for the mother, the baby....certainly imprisonment

is not the answer to this!

:grr:

DemEx

[liberalhistorian]

3. It never is for drug users.

And South Carolina is one of the worst states to be pregnant in. The U.S. Supreme Court itself struck down the state's law allowing for the random testing of pregnant women's urine/blood for drugs while they were in a hospital or doctor's office, WITHOUT EVEN INFORMING THE WOMAN.

And, as usual and always, most of the women "chosen" for the "random" testing were, surprise, surprise, minority and poor. Never mind that middle and upper class white women also use drugs at the same rate, or higher, than other groups.

And I remember when I was pregnant, how people seemed to consider me as only a "carrier", the whole focus was on the baby, not me. It was like I wasn't even a real, worthy person.

[1a2b3c]

6. I didnt even know about that law

SC is fucked up.

[MisterP]

10. which case?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I think it interesting

that no medical link between the stillbirth and cocaine use was cited as the reason for incarceration. I'm not saying that it wasn't, but it would seem to me that something like that would have to be proven before someone was carted off to jail. After all, proof of guilt is supposed to be required in criminal cases.

I know of several women who have had miscarriages and stillborns. They are emotionally devistated. Although none were drug users, I daresay that some were smokers and some drank alcohol (one before she knew she was pregnant;she stopped once she knew). To think that they might be prosecuted because their babies died, when they are already in shock and grief, boggles the mind.

What this woman needed was drug rehabilitation and some counselling to find out why she was strung out on crack. I doubt if her conviction will deter any other crackheads out there from having unprotected sex. After all, they are already breaking the law-and stiff drug sentences don't deter them from using the stuff in the first place.

[DUreader]

12. Your Mistake is believing that we have a justice system

[cally]

4. Women need to be scared, very scared

The fundies agenda is clear. Take away choice and then jail you if you don't have a healthy baby. Everyone needs to read the Handmaiden's Tale.

[kimchi]

5. A Handmaid's Tale--you only THINK it is fiction.

Where's the burden of proof? Don't we usually require a coroner to state the cause of death in murder cases? What was the statute under which she was convicted?

The most telling thing to me is this snip:

"McKnight never received help for her drug problems. (South Carolina, it's worth noting, ranks lowest in the nation for spending on drug and alcohol treatment programs, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.) "

I wonder if she got any help from anyone. This is so sad; another life wasted by the "war on drugs", for no good reason.

[Muddleoftheroad]

7. Do mothers bear any responsibility?

I mean, if you decide to bring your child to term and abuse illegal drugs during the process and give birth to a crack baby, isn't that your responsibility?

[1a2b3c]

8. It is 100%

but stillbirths happen all the time. There is no link to cocaine and stillbirth. Hell if you research history i bet you could find a tribe that used the cocoa plant to induce labor. :shrug: The whole thing is fucked, while still having the mother at fault for drug use while pregnant.

[DUreader]

13. Wow , more republican talking points.

You must be a centrist

[Book Lover]

15. Any child I give birth to is my responsibility

The point here is that the South Carolina CJ system took a woman who birthed a dead baby and charged her with a crime that has no basis in medical fact. That is what we here call "injustice."

[Darth_Kitten]

9. This sets a very dangerous precedent.....

ohmigawsh, a woman could be charged with anything it seems. Will women who give birth to babies with spina bifida be charged for child abuse as they unwittingly didn't take enough folic acid in their first 3 months of pregnancy, or women who give birth to babies with health defects or fetal alcohol syndrome, etc, be held accountable because they didn't cut out all smoking and drinking when they didn't even know they were pregnant? :shrug:

Why are mothers so hated in the United States? :shrug: :evilfrown:

[Cleita]

11. Andean indians chew coca on a regular basis.

If cocaine caused stillbirths, there should be a preponderance of stillbirths, which there isn't. I have said it before and I will say it again, no one has a right to legislate what happens in a woman's womb or uterus unless they also have one. Since men don't, they should be prevented from doing so.

[1a2b3c]

14. Thats what i said in a different post.

I knew there had to be a tribe that used coca for something, we should look at their stillbirths. I think this case should win an appeal on the grounds of zero proof alone.

[Bandit]

16. Would they do the same thing if the mother smoked cigarettes?

Cigarettes are known to cause birth defects and stillbirth while cocaine is not. :shrug: What a nation of idiots we have become.