AG SAYS DOCS NEEDN'T REPORT MOMS' DRUG USE

AUSTIN - State agencies and doctors are not required to report the use of
illegal drugs by pregnant mothers, the office of Texas Attorney General
Greg Abbott said in an opinion Thursday.

The opinion was sought by Rep. Ray Allen, R-Grand Prairie, who sponsored a
bill designed to protect unborn children against third parties, such as
drunken drivers and abusive spouses.

Allen asked Abbot in July to clarify the law after a West Texas district
attorney sent letters to physicians telling them to report any "abuse of
children by voluntary injection of harmful narcotics by expectant mothers."

Rebecca King, former district attorney of Potter and Armstrong counties,
said then that she would prosecute physicians if they failed to report such
drug use.

She filed charges on 18 patients. Six pleaded guilty. Two of those have
appealed.

"We don't fault the prosecution in trying to solve a very serious problem,
mothers who smoke crack," Allen said. "But we never intended the use of the
bill for that purpose."

The opinion makes it likely that the two women would win their appeal and
the pending cases would be dropped, he said.

King, who retired late last year, said she was happy Abbott clarified the
law. She said her letters followed a series of telephone calls to doctors
and hospitals to get their opinion as to what the law meant.

"No one was giving them a warning as to what was happening," she said. "I
was worried that they didn't see the train coming at them."

In her letter to Abbott, King argued that when the Legislature in 2003
changed the definition of "individual" in the Penal Code to include "an
unborn child," it amended the Controlled Substances Act and the child abuse
reporting requirements of the Family Code.

Abbot disagreed, saying it did not affect the definition of the term
"child" in the Family Code.

Health care professionals and women advocacy groups praised Abbott's decision.

"This is a blessing for women and children," said Lynn Paltrow, an attorney
and executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women. "There is
not a single medical group or child welfare group who advocates arresting
pregnant women, because they recognize that it will frighten women away."

Janet Realini, a medical director for the family planning program at San
Antonio's Metropolitan Health District, said physicians are concerned that
King's interpretation would discourage women with substance abuse problems
from seeking timely prenatal care.

"It threatens the trust and relationship between a doctor and a patient,"
said Realini, who also heads the Texas Medical Association's committee of
maternal and prenatal health.

Texas Right to Life, the largest group in the state that opposes abortions,
said they are happy with Abbott's ruling because they feared King's
interpretation would spur more abortions.

"A women who is abusing drugs is already in a vulnerable position," said
Stacey Emick, the group's spokeswoman. "She already has some trouble. And
telling her, 'By the way, you might be charged with criminal penalties,'
would make it likely that she could abort the child."