NCJ Number
155009
Journal
Harvard Law Review Volume: 104 Issue: 7 Dated: (May 1991) Pages: 1419-1482
Date Published
1991
Length
64 pages
Annotation
The constitutionality of prosecuting drug-addicted mothers to protect the fetus or infant is examined, with emphasis on the experiences of poor black women.
Abstract
The article notes that most of the women who face criminal charges for giving birth to infants who test positive for drugs are poor, black, and addicted to crack cocaine. The author argues that these prosecutions occur in the context of the historical devaluation of black women as mothers and that the punishment of drug addicts who choose to carry their pregnancies to term violates their constitutional rights to equal protection and privacy regarding their reproductive choices. A progressive concept of privacy is recommended that places an affirmative obligation on the government to guarantee individual rights and that recognizes the connection between the right of privacy and racial equality. The analysis concludes that prosecution of these women results from their poverty and race and society's denial of their full dignity as human beings and that the real solution to the problem of unhealthy babies is for the government to help drug-addicted mothers rather than to punish them. Footnotes