Alabama prosecutors are now pursuing criminal cases against women testing positive for drug use while pregnant.

District Attorney Brian McVeigh explained that the move reflects changes in case law. Prosecutors are taking a tough page from colleagues in other parts of Alabama, like Etowah County. In Etowah County, authorities announced a tougher stance against pregnant women abusing drugs. From a legal perspective, taking drugs while pregnant is known as chemical endangerment of a child.

Rather than imprisoning a mother-to-be and taking the child away once the baby is born, McVeigh said prosecutors will allow the women to work their way back to sobriety. In Etowah County's chemical endangerment cases, women who are charged attempt to find the path of long-term recovery by working with Alethia House, a Birmingham-based facility that treats pregnant mothers with drug problems.

"If they are willing to get the prenatal care and stay off the drugs, we can work to reduce or dismiss the charges…We just want to make sure the child gets as much time in the womb without being exposed to these toxins," said McVeigh. "(What was happening) was terrible. We would have the mother show up in an ER, and both her and the child would test positive for cocaine, meth, or something else.”

Over the past two years, McVeigh’s office has charged nine women with chemical endangerment following the birth of children who tested positive for drugs. The district attorney’s ultimate goal is to protect children while they are in the womb and sharing the blood supply of the mother. At this point, the level of danger when a mother chooses to abuse drugs is beyond consideration and must be prevented.

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