PROTECT DRUG-POSITIVE NEWBORNS

THE ALABAMA Department of Human Services did the right thing when it
deep-sixed a misguided new rule that would have allowed state social
workers to go easier on cases involving newborns who test positive for
illegal drugs.

The rule, which went into effect Nov. 1 with almost no public scrutiny,
gave social workers discretion over whether to treat drug-affected newborns
as cases of abuse or neglect. That was a bad idea, and after judges in
Jefferson County objected to the change, state officials quickly
backtracked to the old policy.

So now, newborns with drugs in their systems will continue to automatically
trigger an abuse or neglect investigation.

That's good news, because it's hard to imagine a situation in which a
pregnant woman is willingly consuming illegal drugs and not abusing or
neglecting her unborn child. Babies of such mothers are among Alabama's
most vulnerable citizens, and deserve absolute protection.

Allowing social workers to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to
proceed against a new mother with a drug-affected newborn -- as the new
rule allowed -- would have compounded the abuse and neglect by letting
social workers ignore it if they chose to do so.

Social workers need to show their clients compassion at times, and indeed
might think it too harsh to bring abuse charges against some new mothers.
But pregnant women who consume illegal drugs abuse their unborn children.
If they won't protect their own babies, society must.