Last year, the state of Tennessee demanded that hospitals report each child born with what's called "neonatal abstinence syndrome"- a condition caused by a drug addict mother. At it's worst, this condition can cause seizures, though it's unknown whether or not it has any lasting effects.
Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver is trying to pass a law which allows courts to send addicted mothers to jail for potentially giving birth to children with the syndrome. Originally, she shot for a charge of homicide, but eventually toned it down to a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, with the option of seeking treatment.
Medical professionals fear that the threat of jail would drive women away from seeking help. They believe that drug addictions among pregnant women should be treated as medical, not criminal, issues, especially considering the ways in which other harmful habits of pregnant women are handled by the state. Women with poorly self-managed diabetes, for example, also significantly harm their children, and no one's about to send them to jail.
Despite these protests, Weaver and her numerous followers continue to gather support from the public. "It's always somebody else's fault" Weaver says, "But what's wrong with: You screwed up, you're wrong, you've got to pay the consequences'? What's wrong with that?"
my opinion on this issue is that there are potentially a few things wrong with that. I understand the strong public desire to punish these mothers for the effects of their irresponsible actions on their kids. But maybe in this situation, it's less important to make these women go to jail and more important to actually help them and their children.
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