09 July 2008

Drinking during pregnancy: a criminal offense?

New Zealand police found a pregnant woman, due to give birth this week, heavily intoxicated after what police think was allegedly an 8 hour drinking 'binge'. One detective says:

"It's gravely concerning that anyone would consume large amounts of alcohol while pregnant, placing the welfare of their own unborn child at risk. We will certainly be investigating the circumstances and if there is any criminality involved, we will consider whether charges should be laid against her."

This story comes hot on the heels of a recent push to change labelling on alcohol bottles to indicate that women should not drink at all during pregnancy.

What do you think?



Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23981494-23109,00.html

2 comments:

Hannah said...

as far as I'm aware, there is no law they could use but I wouldnt be surprised if government drafted and enforced one pretty soon, but how? and what would the punishment be? Although the damage would already be done, maybe children should be able to sue their mothers for damage caused by alcohol, tobacco or other drugs. Really the only solutions I see are increasing access to long term contraceptives and education and support for 'high risk' mothers (by education and support I suppose I really mean locking them up in rehab until the child is born??)

very sad

cs said...

it is one thing to have a drink while pregnant, and another to become completely wasted.

 
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