CHILD ABUSE

SCHAUMBURG -- Should the law punish someone who deliberately injures a
child, leaving the victim disabled for life? Basic justice suggests the
perpetrator should be held fully accountable for such actions.

The view of the Sept. 9 Tribune editorial "When a mom-to-be abuses drugs"
is that someone who inflicts such injuries should face no legal
consequences when she is a pregnant drug abuser, and that the legal system
should not intervene to protect her unborn child.

The editorial invokes the constitutional principle "that a woman ultimately
controls her body." That principle is not as absolute as the editors
believe. The law forbids people from ingesting certain drugs into their
bodies. The law also prohibits people from prostituting their bodies or
from selling body parts. There are legal limits to what we may do with our
bodies.

The more important principle is that the law should protect the weak from
harm. Alcohol abuse during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome, the
leading preventable cause of mental retardation. Children born with FAS
always will have subnormal intelligence and may become permanent public
charges. Behavior that causes retardation or other serious health problems
is child abuse.

Because the children and society have to pay for such abuse, mothers who
inflict it should not be able to do so with impunity.

Paul Froehlich

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski