BOARD AGAINST PROSECUTION OF PREGNANT WOMEN ON DRUGS

A state advisory board says women who abuse alcohol or drugs while pregnant
should not be prosecuted or kept in involuntary confinement. "I see all
kinds of problems with the punitive approach. It actually deters entrance
into treatment," said Kristin Brewer, a member of the Child Abuse and
Neglect Advisory Council.

The council was asked by the state Division of Child and Family Services to
consider any practical method of deterring fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal
drug dependency, including the "preventive detention" of mothers who refuse
alcohol or drug rehabilitation.

Detaining pregnant women, particularly adults, would pose constitutional
problems, said Carol Verdoia, assistant attorney general and council member.
The state also would have trouble trying to prove a child in utero suffers
from an alcohol-or drug-related illness, she said.

Council members, who met Tuesday, were wary of having child welfare workers
make medical decisions. Besides, they said, the state has no legal authority
to intervene before a child is born.

Council member Anne Freimuth wondered whether the state might also feel
compelled to go after overweight pregnant women, or smokers or diabetics who
failed to take their medication.

"Where are we going to stop?" Freimuth asked. Council members say preventing
bad behavior, rather than punishing it, yields the best results