A little under two years ago, Tennessee passed Senate Bill 1391, making it a crime to have taken narcotic drugs while pregnant, if the infant is born addicted to narcotics or “harmed by” them. While 28 women have been charged under the law, and one sentenced to jail time, there’s no evidence it’s worked to reduce the number of babies born addicted to drugs.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups opposed to the fetal assault law are hoping they’ll be able to have it repealed this legislative session. When the law was passed in April 2014, the ACLU called it “deeply misguided,” arguing it would force drug-dependent women into hiding instead of encouraging them to seek treatment or even prenatal care. The state charged the first woman, Mallory Loyola, under the new law just two months later, when she gave birth to a baby girl and admitted to smoking meth while pregnant. Her charges were dropped in February of this year after she successfully completed a rehab program. Her attorney described Loyola as “extremely remorseful,” saying she didn’t even want to try to make bond, feeling that she deserved to be in jail.
The law does say enrolling in drug treatment can be an “affirmative defense” against the charges, if the pregnant woman is “actively enrolled in a long term addiction recovery program before the child was born, remained in the programs after delivery, and successfully completed the program.”
If the infant is born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a woman can face charges of aggravated assault, with a maximum 15-year prison term. But though NAS can result in painful withdrawal syndromes and require medical treatment, it’s not clear what, if any, long-term health effects it can cause.