HIGH COURT TO WEIGH DRUG TESTING OF MOTHERS

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
recalled. "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 violates 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.

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

"People are very frustrated with addiction and drug use and they want
as big a stick as they can get," said Susan Dunn, a lawyer for Griffin
and other women whose case is before the court. "This would give a new
power of coercion."

The American Medical Association, in a friend-of-the-court brief, also
said the state's 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 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.

The women all signed a consent form, said Dunn, "but 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.

She and the other women have lost two rounds of the court battle, with
the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying 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.

Attorney General Charlie Condon said "the unborn child has a
constitutional right to protection from its mother's drug abuse," and
said authorities will get search warrants if women do not give consent.