To avoid being treated against their will or to avoid being incarcerated, women with high-risk pregnancies and therefore the greatest need for prenatal care, will avoid doctors or will withhold important information from their doctors concerning their health. As a result, the health of the fetus will be placed in even greater jeopardy. Those who support forced treatment of pregnant women agree that every person has a right to freedom of choice. But when a woman decides to carry her pregnancy to term, we can expect that a child will be born, and this future child has a right to be protected from avoidable harm. Certain behaviors during pregnancy are known to cause harm to offspring.
Poor nutrition can retard fetal growth and impair brain development.
Use of heroin can result in fetal addiction. Heavy alcohol use can cause mental retardation and physical malformations. Altering one's diet or refraining from alcohol or drugs presents no serious risk to a pregnant woman's life or health. When a pregnant woman who has decided to give birth to a child engages in activities that she could reasonably avoid and that will damage that child, society has a duty to protect the future child, even if this means forcing the pregnant woman to change her behavior. Furthermore, it is argued, there are cases in which a pregnant woman's right to freedom of choice must be weighed against a child's right to be born in a healthy state.