Punishing pregnant women on drugs only hurts newborns

Mary entered the world alone on the bathroom floor of a Greyhound bus station. Just a few hours old, she struggled to breathe. Her tiny body jolted with seizures.

Situations like this are a devastating reality for more than 830 newborns suffering from drug withdrawal annually in Arizona. And since 2017, newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) increased 41%.

Beyond an increased risk of complications and possible stillbirth, infants exposed prenatally to drugs often endure birth defects and life-impacting developmental disabilities. Undoubtedly, medical professionals provide life-altering care so drug-exposed newborns can hopefully recover, yet it is costly and intensive. And saddest of all, NAS is preventable.

Too often people avoid accessing help during pregnancy for fear that they will face child neglect allegations or lose their child upon birth. Such stigma fails to protect newborns, harms parents and often tears families apart.

Nationally, 1 in 5 children enter foster care as infants, with their parents’ substance use causing at least half of these separations. And this proportion has steadily increased. The millions of dollars spent annually to assist these children in foster care is a bandage, not a cure.

But it does not have to be this way. That’s why Arizona House Bill 2530 sponsored by Rep. Rachel Jones is needed now. This lifesaving bill prioritizes substance use treatment during pregnancy rather than punishment with the goal of ending newborn drug exposure.

Currently, a majority of Arizona pregnant women using substances are “very afraid” to disclose their substance use. This unnecessarily stops them from getting the help they need.

This bill addresses that fear, directing agencies and medical providers to refer patients to individualized services and treatment rather than to the state.

Additionally, receiving early treatment helps parents establish a record of sobriety to help prevent them from losing their newborn.

Arizona has a perfect opportunity: protect newborns from the harms of drug exposure and entering foster care while helping parents achieve sobriety.

No parent should fear prenatal medical care. And no newborn should be alone struggling to survive.

We all win when children and their parents achieve a healthy life together.

By improving substance use treatment, Arizona can prevent family separation and – when foster care does become necessary – improve their chances of quickly reunifying.

By taking this commonsense path of prevention and supporting House Bill 2530, Arizona policymakers can help newborns take their first breaths free of drug exposure, and they can help families remain together.

Now these are policy goals we can all fight for. I hope you join us.

Darcy Olsen is founder and CEO of The Center for the Rights of Abused Children. Reach her at darcy@thecenterforchildren.org.