MOTHERS-TO-BE WHO DRINK FACE DETENTION

WOMEN who drink alcohol while pregnant can be legally detained until the
baby is born, under the first of America's tough new foetal protection laws.

Courts in the Mid-Western state of South Dakota can order expectant mothers
to be held in a treatment centre if a judge rules that they are drinking
too much. A similar law has also recently been passed in Wisconsin, with a
dozen other states, from California to Massachusetts, also preparing to
lock up "addicted" women for the good of their unborn babies.

In South Dakota, which will enforce the new legislation from July 1, the
amount of alcohol considered excessive will be left to the discretion of
the courts. Most medical authorities in America strongly oppose any
drinking during pregnancy, with bottles of wine and cans of beer carrying
health warnings for expectant mothers similar to those on cigarette packets.

The locking up of pregnant women signals a big victory for the pro-life
movement, which argues that life begins at the moment of conception. Both
Wisconsin and South Dakota will exercise their new powers by making unborn
children wards of a juvenile court, effectively abolishing the distinction
between a foetus and a baby.

Attempts to detain pregnant women using existing legislation have all
failed under challenges from civil rights and pro-abortion groups. Four
years ago, the Florida Supreme Court refused to "pit woman against foetus"
in the case of a pregnant cocaine user who eventually was released. Courts
in America have by convention accepted that the rights of a woman override
those of an unborn child. Giving a foetus legal rights represents a direct
challenge to the landmark Roe Vs Wade ruling by the Supreme Court a quarter
of a century ago which allowed abortion virtually on demand.

Many ordinary Americans, however, increasingly sympathise with Scott
Eccarius, the senator who pushed for the South Dakota laws and says of
drinking and drug-taking, that "no woman has the right to do that to a
child." Government health officials last year estimated that 140,000
American women were having at least one alcoholic drink a day, classifying
them as frequent drinkers and at a substantially higher risk of "foetal
alcohol syndrome" which can cause retarded growth, facial abnormalities and
learning problems.

The rate in South Dakota is 20 times the national average, largely because
of heavy drinking among Sioux Indians on the state's large tribal
reservations. Because state and federal law does not extend to Indian
lands, tribal elders have passed similar "liquor legislation", which also
bans the sale of alcohol to pregnant women. An Indian woman who drinks can
also be charged with child abuse and sent to prison for one year.

The state's Republican Governor, William Janklow, says that foetal alcohol
syndrome is "something that God doesn't do to children. It's something
mothers do to children. None of us as adults has the right to abuse a child
before they are born." South Dakota law now gives relatives or friends of a
pregnant woman caught drinking the power to commit her to an emergency
detoxification clinic for up to two days. If necessary, judges can confine
them for the full nine months of a pregnancy. Wisconsin also gives courts
the power to detain pregnant women for drug or alcohol abuse.

The legislation followed the case of a 24-year-old cocaine addict who was
held in hospital for three weeks until her baby boy was born. The State
Supreme Court later ruled that the sheriff's department had exceeded its
powers. The woman was not charged with possessing or using drugs.

Civil rights groups have vigorously opposed what they see as punishing
pregnant women for the problems of addiction. They also point out that,
unlike drugs, drinking alcohol is not against the law. Priscilla Smith, a
lawyer for the Centre for Reproductive Law and Policy, calls legal
detention for drinking. She said: "One of the biggest issues in
reproductive law."

With the American Civil Liberties Union, the centre is preparing to
challenge through the United States Supreme Court an eight-year sentence on
Cornelia Whitner who was convicted of child neglect in South Carolina for
smoking crack cocaine while pregnant. South Carolina law accepts that a
foetus becomes a viable life during the third trimester of pregnancy and
should be given the same protection as a child. Doctors and drug agencies
have been ordered to report any woman who tests positive for drugs.

Opponents argue that the law will drive addicted women away from seeking
proper treatment for their babies. However the assistant deputy
attorney-general responsible for prosecutions says South Carolina's
position is: "We're here to say there is a consequence for your behavior.
There comes a point when the state must intervene."

Checked-by: Richard Lake