Federal judge blocks Wisconsin's 'cocaine mom' law
Source: Wi State Journal
DAVID WAHLBERG dwahlberg@madison.com 20 min ago
A federal judge has blocked a Wisconsin law — sometimes called the "cocaine mom" law — that allows the state to detain pregnant women suspected of drug or alcohol abuse.
U.S. District Court Judge James Peterson ruled in Madison Friday that the law, which extends protections for abused or neglected children to fetuses, is "void for vagueness." The amount of drug use by pregnant women that should prompt state action and the risk to fetuses are not clear, the judge said.
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"For the first time in 19 years, Wisconsin women who become pregnant and seek medical help can do so without fear that their confidentiality will be violated and their health and their baby’s health undermined by forced treatment and punishment based on medical misinformation and stigma," said Dr. Kathy Hartke, chair of the Wisconsin chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Dr. Aleksandra Zgierska, president of the Wisconsin chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, said babies' health has more to do with socioeconomic factors such as poverty, nutrition and access to health care than what pregnant women do or don't do during pregnancy.
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Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/health-med-fit/federal-judge-blocks-wisconsin-s-cocaine-mom-law/article_30486b2e-0a3c-543d-be55-fbdb5511fe77.html
I am glad to see this.
Article says this ruling applies state-wide. The state has not yet deciding to appeal.
I am wondering if this ruling could--could--possible affect other states but the article says nothing about my wondering.
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