EVERYONE MUST RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF PRIVACY

Fourth Amendment: High Court Upholds Law

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States states: "The
right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized."

The Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches was
appropriately upheld last week, although the ruling may provide little
comfort for those seeking to protect unborn children.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public hospitals cannot test pregnant
women for drugs and turn the results over to police without patients'
consent. The decision stemmed from a South Carolina case, where some women
who tested positive for crack cocaine were arrested from their bedside
before or shortly after giving birth. The program of having health-care
workers test pregnant women and inform police of suspected drug abuse was
initiated by South Carolina Attorney General Charles Condon.

Even though the ultimate goal was to prevent women from harming their
unborn children - and, eventually, drug treatment was offered - the
hospital, in effect acted as auxiliary police by collecting evidence.

While the intent to protect the innocent is admirable, the program at
Medical University of South Carolina abused the patients' right to privacy
as provided in the Fourth Amendment, the high court decided.

We agree.

The South Carolina program violates the usual required procedure of
obtaining a warrant before police can conduct any search or seizure. In the
South Carolina case, no one had obtained either the patient's consent or a
court -approved warrant to do the testing (i.e., the search) for drug abuse.

The South Carolina program also may even discourage some pregnant women
from seeking health care because it violates the expected patient-doctor
relationship of trust and integrity.

This case raises the question of whether drug abusers should be viewed
primarily as patients or as criminal suspects. No court or legislature has
settled that issue. It's a difficult, troubling question.

However, care of the mother and her unborn or just-born child always should
be a top priority for health-care officials because addiction is a disease
that needs effective treatment by professionals. It's difficult to see how
violating a patient's constitutional rights and putting mothers in jail
serves that purpose.

At the very least, the Supreme Court's ruling requires public hospitals to
operate according to the same Fourth Amendment rules that police must
observe. In the long run, that principle serves everyone.