Drinking during pregnancy will not become a criminal offence
DRINKING during pregnancy will not be treated as a criminal offence, the High Court ruled yesterday.
In the first case of its kind, judges were asked to decide whether irresponsible alcohol consumption by mothers-to-be was unlawful.
Lawyers for a girl of seven who was born disabled claimed her mother had committed a ‘crime of violence’ by drinking half a bottle of vodka and eight cans of strong lager a day during pregnancy.
But yesterday, appeal judges ruled that no mother could be held criminally liable for such actions and rejected the bid.
The ruling was welcomed by campaigners last night, who said a successful appeal would have threatened the ‘bodily autonomy’ of pregnant women.
Critics have said it may have paved the way towards criminalising other activities during pregnancy, such as taking prescrip-
Daily Mail, November 6 tion drugs or even eating runny eggs – which carry a risk of salmonella.
In a joint statement, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and campaign group Birthrights said: ‘This is an extremely important ruling for women everywhere.
‘The UK’s highest court has recognised that women must be able to make their own decisions about their pregnancies.’
The court heard the girl, referred to only as CP, suffers from foetal alcohol spectrum disorder which causes retarded growth, facial abnormalities and intellectual impairment.
The case was brought on behalf of the child – now in foster care – by a council in north-west England, which tried to claim £500,000 in compensation. But to do so, it had to prove that the mother had committed a crime.
In a unanimous ruling, the three judges said: ‘We have held that a mother who is pregnant and who drinks to excess despite knowledge of the potential harmful consequence to the child of doing so is not guilty of a criminal offence.’