Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T19:31:48.642Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Protecting Fetuses from Certain Harm

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Ernest L. Abel*
Affiliation:
Wayne State University, USA
Get access

Abstract

Deborah Mathieu's proposal for state intervention in the lives of pregnant substance abusers in order to prevent serious harm to their future children sparked a lively debate in this journal. The present discussion characterizes the three main arguments offered against her proposal as (a) the “uncertainty principle''—the inability to predict which fetuses will be affected, (b) the “father factor”—gender bias with respect to prenatal damage, and (c) “critical periods”—the vulnerability of the embryo/fetus at different times of pregnancy. Each of these arguments is examined in the specific context of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Since the birth of a child with FAS is a virtual certainty if a woman has previously given birth to a child with FAS, since no father has ever sired a child with FAS unless his spouse is an alcoholic, and since the most damaging effects are those associated with exposure throughout and especially late in pregnancy, none of the arguments offered against Mathieu's proposal are relevant in this particularly narrow set of circumstances. While Mathieu's proposal seems pertinent in this situation, her proposal would be even more effective if modified as suggested here.

Type
Pregnancy and Alcohol Abuse
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abel, E.L. (1988). “Commentary. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Families.” Neuroteratology and Toxicology 10:12.Google Scholar
Abel, E.L. (1989). Behavioral Teratogenesis and Behavioral Mutagenesis. A Primer in Abnormal Development. New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Abel, E.L. (1995). “An Update on Incidence of FAS: FAS Is Not an Equal Opportunity Birth Defect.” Neurotoxicology and Teratology 17:437–43.Google Scholar
Abel, E.L. (1998). Fetal Alcohol Abuse Syndrome Revisited. New York: Plenum. In press.Google Scholar
Angeriou, M., McCarty, D., and Blacker, E. (1985). “Criminality among Individuals Arraigned for Drinking and Driving in Massachusetts.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 46:525–30.Google Scholar
Bielawski, D. and Abel, E.L. (1997). “Acute Treatment of Paternal Alcohol Exposure Produces Malformations in Offspring.” Alcohol 14:397401.Google Scholar
Blank, R.H. (1993). “Maternal-Fetal Relationship: The Courts and Social Policy.” Journal of Legal Medicine 14:7392.Google Scholar
Blank, R.H. (1996). “Mandating Outpatient Treatment for Pregnant Substance Abusers: Attractive but Unfeasible.” Politics and the Life Sciences 15:4950.Google Scholar
Boling, P. (1996). “Mandating Treatment for Pregnant Substance Abusers Is the Wrong Focus for Public Discussion.” Politics and Life Sciences 15:5152.Google Scholar
Chavkin, W. (1990). “Drug Addiction and Pregnancy: Policy Crossroads.” American Journal of Public Health 80:483–87.Google Scholar
Chavkin, W. (1996). “Mandatory Treatment for Pregnant Substance Abusers: Irrelevant and Dangerous.” Politics and the Life Sciences 15:5354.Google Scholar
Daniels, C.R. (1996). “A Million (Missing) Men: A Commentary on Mathieu's Compromise on Pregnancy and Substance Abuse.” Politics and the Life Sciences 15:5456.Google Scholar
Donovan, D.M., Umlauf, R.L., and Salzberg, P.M. (1990). “Bad Drivers: Identification of a Target Group for Alcohol-Related Prevention and Early Intervention.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 56:356–60.Google Scholar
Florida Statutes Annotated (1986). 415.503(5), 504.Google Scholar
Illinois Annotated Statutes (1988b). Ch. 23, para. 2057.3.Google Scholar
Illinois Compiled Statutes Annotated (1988a). 705 ILCS 405/2-18c.Google Scholar
Jones, K.L. and Smith, D.W. (1973). “Recognition of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Early Infancy.” Lancet 2:9991001.Google Scholar
Jung, J. (1994) Under the Influence. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.Google Scholar
Madden, R.G. (1996). “Civil Commitment for Substance Abuse by Pregnant Women? A View from the Front Lines.” Politics and the Life Sciences 15:5659.Google Scholar
Maryland Family Law Code Annotated (1991). 5.704.706.Google Scholar
Mathieu, D. (1985). “Respecting Liberty and Preventing Harm: Limits of State Intervention in Prenatal Choice.” Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 8:1955.Google Scholar
Mathieu, D. (1991). Preventing Prenatal Harm. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic.Google Scholar
Mathieu, D. (1995). “Mandating Treatment for Pregnant Substance Abusers: A Compromise.” Politics and the Life Sciences 14:199208.Google Scholar
Mathieu, D. (1996). “Pregnant Women in Chains?” Politics and the Life Sciences 15:7781.Google Scholar
McMillan, D.L. et al. (1991). “Behavior and Personality Traits among DUI Arrestees, Nonarrested Impaired Drivers, and Nonimpaired Drivers.” International Journal of the Additions 26:227–35.Google Scholar
Merrick, J.C. (1996). “Pregnancy and Substance Abuse: Education or Mandatory Treatment?” Politics and the Life Sciences 15:5960.Google Scholar
Mill, J.S. (1975). On Liberty. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Moskowitz, E.H. (1996). “Can Government Ever Protect Fetuses from Substance Abuse?” Politics and the Life Sciences 15:6163.Google Scholar
New Jersey Statutes Annotated (1991). 9:68.Google Scholar
Patterson, E.G. and Andrews, A.B. (1996). “Civil Commitment for Pregnant Substance Abusers: Is It Appropriate and Is It Enough?” Politics and the Life Sciences 15:6466.Google Scholar
Peck, R.C., Arstein-Kerslake, G.W., and Helander, C.J. (1994). “Psychometric and Biographical Correlates of Drunk-Driving Recidivism and Treatment Program Compliance.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 55:667–78.Google Scholar
Robertson, J.A. (1996). “Norplant and Irresponsible Reproduction.” In Moskowitz, E.H. and Jennings, B. (eds.), Coerced Contraception: Moral Policy Challenges of Long-Acting Birth Control. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Strickland, R.A. (1996). “The Incivility of Mandated Drug Treatment through Civil Commitments.” Politics and the Life Sciences 15:7072.Google Scholar
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (1994). Alcohol and Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar