As a result, policy-makers tend to punish these women with jail sentences or removal of their children. But a pregnant woman's substance abuse problem is not a criminal one. It is a mental health problem that needs to be treated and prevented like any other health problem such as hypertension or diabetes. Society disregards the similarity between cocaine use and hypertension because the inability to control one's blood pressure is seen as an involuntary act. Dismissing the similarities between these two health problems is a symptom of the stigma associated with drug use.
Research shows that treatment for drug addictions is effective.
In fact, treatment works for drug addictions as well as it does for medical conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. But the stigma associated with drug use drives women away from seeking treatment for fear of detection, incarceration and child removal. Of all people, women like Whitner and Zimmerman and their babies need health care treatment. If that were spent on early intervention, we could prevent the children's deficits from occurring. But to do this, we first have to accept that substance abuse by pregnant women is similar to other health problems.