BILL WOULD TARGET DRUG ABUSE IN PREGNANCY

Lawmakers Note Harm To Infants

LEBANON, Ind. - Two state lawmakers said they would sponsor a bill that
would target women who use illegal drugs while giving birth.

State Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, and State Sen. Jeff Drozda,
R-Westfield, have agreed to try to push the bill through the General Assembly.

Thompson said he and others were surprised to learn there was no law
against drug use during pregnancy.

"Obviously it harms the infant, in a long-term way, it harms the mother, it
harms society in terms of the extreme cost," Thompson said.

The only remedy now available is for the Department of Family and Children
to file a petition to have the mother's parental rights suspended or
terminated, said Boone County Prosecutor Todd Meyer.

Boone County authorities are awaiting test results to determine whether a
30-year-old woman who had cocaine in her system when she gave birth passed
the drug on to her child.

"I think it's a huge gap in the law," Meyer said. "There's nothing in the
criminal statute that allows the prosecutor to file charges against a woman
who is pregnant who ingests a controlled substance."

Thompson would prefer the crime be a felony, but said making it a
misdemeanor would ease its movement through the legislature.