Pregnant Drug Users

             Many of us are use to hearing about the "War on Drugs" or Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), but not every day we hear about groups trying to stop mothers from killing their unborn child. The method that these mothers are using to kill or permanently hurt their unborn child is by using drugs during their pregnancy. Should these women go to jail for murdering or should they get help and pretend that nothing happened? Like every situation in our life, we must do what is right, and we must fight for what we know is right.
             Paul A. Logli, a prosecutor for the state of Illinois argues that it is the government's duty to enforce health of unborn fetuses, and that the mothers of these victims should be prosecuted. One of his views is that drugs are addictive and that legal and illegal drugs harm not only the unborn child but the mother as well. Some times these types of drugs won't kill the fetus but it will affect him/her for remainder of their life (Logli, 84).
             A 1988 survey of hospitals showed that as many as 375,000 infants may be affected by maternal cocaine use during their pregnancy each year. More recently a study at a hospital in Detroit showed that 42.7 percent of its newborn babies were exposed to drugs while in their mothers' wombs. Many of these kids show a mild autistic personality disorder at young ages. Another problem due to this selfish act is the cost of pain and suffering from all the consequences that this problem brings upon the victims. The typical intensive care costs from $7,500 to $31,000, and in some cases we have seen it up to $150,000 (Logli, 86)
             Cocaine is one of the drugs most dangerous to unborn babies. Over the past ten years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of pregnant women who use cocaine and consequently, an alarming rise in the number of babies born affected by the drug. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that more t...

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Pregnant Drug Users. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 19:24, April 23, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/56368.html