Nurseweek/Healthweek|Is drinking during pregnancy child abuse?

Is drinking during pregnancy child abuse?

Posted 6-1-98

Starting July 1, pregnant women in South Dakota who abuse alcohol or drugs could be involuntarily sent to treatment programs for as long as nine months.

South Dakota state legislators passed three new laws this spring intended to reduce the number of children born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Under the laws, friends or relatives can commit pregnant women to emergency detox centers for two days, judges can confine them to treatment centers for up to nine months, and drinking or abusing drugs while pregnant is a form of child abuse.

Nationally, fetal alcohol syndrome affects one in 500 children; however, in some parts of South Dakota it affects nearly 20 in 500. While the state already distributes information about fetal alcohol syndrome to high schools and healthcare workers, lawmakers felt that something more needed to be done.

"We’re hoping that involuntary commitment will be part of the solution," said Barbara Everist, a state senator and a sponsor of the bill. Everist believes the new laws will reduce the overall number of children affected by fetal alcohol syndrome.

The National Organization for Fetal Alcohol Research is withholding comment until it has time to study the laws more closely and to see if other states will follow suit, said Tom Donaldson, the organization’s executive director.