Opponents See Chance To Repeal Tennessee Law That Lets Police Jail Drug-Addicted Mothers

Tennessee’s new law that makes it a crime for pregnant women to use illegal narcotics is coming up for debate again. Groups that tried to block the bill last year are now aiming to keep the law from being renewed.

A year-and-a-half in, the number of women who’ve been charged remains far below what opponents feared, though an exact tally has not been updated since the end of 2014. There were 28 cases last year. Only one resulted in jail time. The other women received a mix of treatment and probation. Some judicial districts have recorded no prosecutions.

But American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee attorney Tom Castelli says just because prosecutors are using discretion doesn’t mean the law should be extended.

“I think the small numbers compared to, say, other crimes might suggest: Why is this a crime?” he asks.

Castelli says it’s also impossible to know how many pregnant women have bypassed prenatal care out of fear. Advocacy groups have anecdotes about mothers giving birth at home to avoid prosecution. One story that's made the rounds involves a woman who went into labor and tried to drive to a hospital across state lines and ended up having the baby on the side of the road.

The law also has yet to drive down the number of babies born in Tennessee showing drug withdrawal symptoms. The Tennessee Department of Health maintains a database that's updated weekly, and figures are roughly flat compared to 2014.

State Sen. Reginald Tate, D-Memphis, sponsored the legislation. He says his goal has already been partly achieved.

“More people are aware today than there ever was," he says. "There is more concern about a pregnancy and a drug baby. My name was just mud at first.”

Tate says he’s open to critiques and would even consider letting the law expire. He attended this week's conference put on by Healthy and Free Tennessee, whose primary goal is to overturn the law. Tate says the organizations like the ACLU and women's health groups seem to share his ultimate goal of reducing the number of babies born dependent on drugs.