Weaver's Tennessee: What's An Addicted, Pregnant Woman To Do These Days?

(Photo courtesy of Salon.)

Oh, Tennessee, how could you…?

Tennessee became the first state in the nation to criminalize the outcome of a woman’s pregnancy. If a woman gives birth to a baby that tests positive for drugs, the mother can be arrested on assault charges.  SB 1391 states:  

“Criminal Offenses - As enacted, provides that a woman may be prosecuted for assault for the illegal use of a narcotic drug while pregnant, if her child is born addicted to or harmed by the narcotic drug; law expires July 1, 2016. - Amends TCA Title 39.” 

(FIRST THING EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW: I am NOT saying pregnant women should be taking drugs during pregnancy. I also do NOT condone drug or alcohol use during pregnancy. This commentary is about more than the behavior of a woman who is pregnant. So, if anyone wants to discuss this matter, please, let’s limit it to the issues that will be presented rather than re-hashing the old news that drugs are bad for fetuses. I think we can all agree that’s the case.)

This new legislation has been criticized by physicians, addiction specialists and major medical associations who object to the tone of the law, which pretends compassion and medical necessity. The Republican sponsored law, according to the Republicans who sponsored it, intends to “help” women.

Teri Lynn Weaver, the law’s sponsor, spoke to Katie McDonough of Salon:

“…Weaver told me that she views police as more concerned about ‘the life inside the belly’ than the pregnant women themselves. ‘And again, these women [who would be targeted under the bill] are the worst of the worst -- these are coke and heroin ladies. These women are not thinking about anything except their next narcotic fix.’”

Weaver has pointed to the number of babies born with “neonatal abstinence syndrome,” or NAS, as being the reason this law is necessary. However, Weaver relies more on inflammatory language than actual science. By highlighting addicted mothers as being “the worst of the worst,” and babies “born addicted,” Weaver bypasses facts about the circumstances affecting these women that should be factored into any discussion about criminalizing their condition.

Not all Republicans in the Tennessee Senate agreed with passing this law. Some of them, like Republican state Sen. Mike Bell, who represents a rural district, brought up the lack of access many women in his district have to health care. This lack of access includes reproductive services (that may help prevent pregnancies in the very demographic Weaver’s law targets), pre-natal care, drug interdiction programs (that could help an addicted woman to overcome her substance abuse, at least during the pregnancy) or drug rehabilitation services.

Weaver flat-out disregards the limited availability of drug treatment and health care as being related to the issue of pregnant women who use drugs, saying in her Salon interview: 

“I don’t know what to say about [how] some [women] have insurance and some do not. It’s a terrible thing, but I don’t want to get into that because it’s another subject.”

Tennessee is among the states that has refused to expand Medicaid, leaving low-income and poor people without access to healthcare they can afford. According to most recent data, around 25% of Tennessee citizens aged 19 to 39 are without health insurance. Since between the ages of 19 and 39 is prime reproductive time, this is not an insignificant demographic.

When Senator Bell raised the issue during the committee hearing, he was assured by the District attorney who was testifying that law enforcement would not prosecute women who wanted to get into a drug treatment program, but didn’t have the ability to do so. Bell commented, “Now as much as I would like to believe that, I do know that you can’t always trust people to do the right thing -- and the right thing here is not to criminalize or prosecute a woman who wants help.” Which begs the question, what would “help” constitute in the state of Tennessee?

NAS is, in fact, generally treatable, which is good news for the population of Tennessee. Good health care and education go a long way to combating the use of drugs during pregnancy.  Better yet, access to birth control, especially low-cost contraceptives also does a lot to help prevent pregnancy among women who may not welcome it. But Weaver’s reference to her new law, SB 1391, as being a “velvet hammer” does not seem to be a great help to women who find themselves pregnant, addicted, and without health care or access to drug treatment programs. What IS available to these women is drug court, which is a criminal system work-around to actual rehabilitation in most cases.

Are courts capable of doing the best job in handling health issues like addiction? Even Weaver says that drug courts “are what we have right now.” According to experts on the issue of health care (the AMA, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists), pregnancy  laws that criminalize pregnant women are a terrible response to the issue. Such laws discourage women from seeking pre-natal care or help with their drug abuse. Weaver contends that these experts are too concerned with “the prenatal monies they are not going to get.” Frankly, Weaver’s cynicism seems completely in line with her view that pregnant addicts are the worst of the worst, since she seems to view those who take care of pregnant women and their fetuses as greedy and self-interested.

But what can we say about Weaver? That she feels it necessary to criminalize pregnant women for issues that she knows nothing about (and cares nothing about) shows a complete lack of willingness to learn about the demographic she seeks to punish. That can be viewed as highly judgmental, which combined with deliberate ignorance, is just plain wrong. The creation of laws to lock people up without consideration of every aspect of the matter is not humane, it is not of benefit to her constituents, and it certainly is not going to be fiscally conservative, when all is said and done. To ignore the public health aspect of this issue while making plans for the incarceration of women just isn't politic.

A great article that touches on this issue can be found here.