HEARING ON 'COCAINE MOM' BILL SOUGHT BEFORE ADELMAN LEAVES

By Sam Martino of the Journal Sentinel staff

Waukesha An author of the socalled "cocaine mom" bill says she would
like a public hearing on the proposed legislation in the state Senate
before Judiciary Committee Chairman Lynn Adelman resigns to become a
federal judge.

Sen. Joanne Huelsman (RWaukesha) said at a breakfast meeting of the
Waukesha Area Chamber of Commerce last week that a hearing on her bill
before Adelman leaves the legislature would allow the Senate to deal with
the matter early next year.

Adelman, a Democrat from Waterford, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate
to become a federal judge.

He plans to resign his seat by the end of December.

Adelman said he hadn't planned on holding a hearing on the bill before he
resigned.

"We (the Senate) don't go back into session until the end of January. I
assume (State Sen. Fred) Risser is going to take over as chairman of the
committee when I leave. I am sure she will get a hearing one way or the
other," Adelman said.

Risser is a Democrat from Madison.

Huelsman said she believed an early hearing would help the bill's passage.
The bill would force pregnant women who abuse alcohol and drugs into
treatment programs for their addictions.

A similar bill passed the state Assembly, 6927, last week.

Huelsman says it would be a lot cheaper to provide for the health of a
fetus than to pay costs for a baby needing medical attention for fetal
alcohol syndrome or addiction to cocaine.

The cocaine mom measure gets its name from a Waukesha case involving a
woman who was on drugs and was detained in a hospital by court order to
protect her fetus.

Huelsman said she strongly believes that pregnant women "who have been
using drugs or alcohol should be reported to social service" agencies.

"If you choose to carry a child to term, the state has a compelling
interest in the unborn child. It is our intent to protect the unborn
child," Huelsman said.

If the bill passes, she said, she will seek additional funds for alcohol
and drug abuse treatment for pregnant women.

She rejected the notion that the bill would lead to more abortions.

"I think these women want to have their babies. They want to get off their
addiction. They don't have the ability and the support to do it now," she
said.