COURT MULLS DRUG TESTING OF MOTHERS-TO-BE

Women Say Hospital Used Unconstitutional Searches

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Lori Griffin was about to go home from the hospital
after an overnight stay for premature labor pains. Instead, she was slapped
in handcuffs after testing positive for cocaine.

"They told me I was under arrest for distributing to a minor," Griffin
says. "They put me in handcuffs and shackles and put me in a wheelchair and
took me to jail."

Eleven years later, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on
whether testing pregnant women for drugs and reporting the results to
police violate the Constitution's protection against unreasonable searches.

The justices' decision, expected next year, could determine whether other
hospitals can adopt similar practices.

The South Carolina attorney general contends such programs help prevent
babies from being born addicted. The state has used its child-endangerment
law to prosecute pregnant women who use drugs, and South Carolina doctors
must report as child abuse drug use by women late in pregnancy.

Griffin and her fellow plaintiffs have lost earlier rounds. The 4th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals said officials had a substantial interest in
reducing drug use because of the costs of caring for cocaine babies. The
searches were reasonable under a "special needs" exception to the Fourth
Amendment, the court said.

Opponents say the tests discourage pregnant drug users from seeking
prenatal care.

The American Medical Association, in a friend of the court brief, said the
drug-testing policy "forces physicians to compromise their commitment to
patient confidentiality."

Griffin was a patient at the public Medical University of South Carolina,
where officials in 1989 decided to help prosecutors battling the crack
epidemic. If a woman's urine test indicated cocaine use, she was reported
to police and arrested for distributing the drug to a minor -- the unborn
child.

The program -- run by the hospital and city prosecutors -- tested women who
had a history of cocaine use or whose prenatal exams suggested use.

In 1990, the policy was changed to give drug-using patients a choice
between arrest and treatment. But 10 women sued the hospital, saying tests
performed without court warrants violate the Fourth Amendment.

While the women all signed a consent form, lawyer Susan Dunn said, "it was
not adequate to consent to a search."

The hospital's program was ended in 1994 after the federal government
threatened to take away $18 million of the school's research money. During
the five years, 253 pregnant women tested positive for cocaine. Most chose
treatment, but 30 were arrested.

Griffin did not accept immediate treatment and sat in jail almost three
months before giving birth. A relative took custody of the infant and
Griffin was released to get treatment.