Alabama jailing pregnant drug users

Fri, 2008-03-28 06:50

Ghislaine

[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/us/15mothers.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&ad... is an affront to women's freedoms:

quote:

A day after she gave birth in 2006, Tiffany Hitson, 20, sat on her front porch crying, barefoot and handcuffed. A police officer hovered in the distance.
Ms. Hitson’s newborn daughter had traces of cocaine and marijuana in its system, and the young woman, baby-faced herself, had fallen afoul of a tough new state law intended to protect children from drugs, and a local prosecutor bent on pursuing it. She made arrangements for the baby’s care, and headed off to a year behind bars.
“I couldn’t believe it,” recalled Ms. Hitson, who was released in November after spending much of the first year of her daughter’s life at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Alabama.

A woman's body is a woman's body and she has a right to do what she wants with it, whether we view it as undesirable activity or not. Something somewhat similiar (more from a rehabilitation perspective than a punishment perspective) was [url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0... in Manitoba, but was rightly [url=http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/reprint/157/11/1586.pdf]overturned[/url] by the Supreme Court.

I remember studying that case in Social Work school and our class was divided over the issue. I think it is clear and agree with the Supreme Court decision.

[ 28 March 2008: Message edited by: Ghislaine ]

Fri, 2008-03-28 07:07

#3

Le T

I can't say I'm suprised that your class was divided. Social workers have a long history of stealing babies from their mothers. I hope that you are a stong voice in the social work community.

This is really discusting. It is just beyond belief that cops would take a mother and put her in jail the day after birth.

Fri, 2008-03-28 07:11

#4

remind

This article is actually tied into the Bill C484 issue, as this is what the Bill is about, make no mistake, as well as trying to create a back door to criminalize abortions.[url=http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=24&t=001355]Bill c484[/url]

Fri, 2008-03-28 12:31

#5

Michelle

Pretty awful. And yes, this is exactly what the people who support C-484 would like to see here too. They want to "soften us up" with this one.

Off topic: why on earth would any woman want a PRISON named after her?

Fri, 2008-03-28 15:21

#6

Sineed

Criminalizing pregnant drug-users drives them underground. They end up not getting medical care out of fear of prosecution.

I anticipate this law will result in more damaged children in Alabama

Fri, 2008-03-28 18:00

#7

oldgoat

We all know there's no drugs in prison though.