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Pregnant Women Who Drink Alcohol
Need Treatment, Not Prison
March 23, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Adam Litle
Director of Government Affairs
(202) 785-4585
WASHINGTON—Citing concern that pending laws could open the door for prosecuting women who drink alcohol during pregnancy, the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS) today spoke out against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.
Instead of helping to get treatment for pregnant women who drink alcohol and harm their fetuses, this bill opens the door to taking legal action against them, an ineffective method of addressing the problem. "At NOFAS, we believe that a legal approach will only deter women with an alcohol problem from seeking prenatal care," said Tom Donaldson, NOFAS president. "We fear this would lead to a rise in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs)." Past studies have shown that education and treatment is seven times more cost effective than arrest and prison for substance addiction.
NOFAS supports increased access to treatment services for pregnant women. Pregnant women who are alcohol dependent seldom receive the proper treatment and therapy they need. "If doctors were properly trained in intervention, and we had better treatment options for women and their children, a legal approach would never be needed," said Kathleen Mitchell, NOFAS vice president and birth mother of a child with FAS. "Rather than making laws that could open the door to punishing women, public policy should focus on treatment options for those with a substance abuse dependency."
NOFAS, a nonprofit organization founded in 1990, seeks to prevent birth defects caused by alcohol use during pregnancy and to improve the quality of life for those people who are affected. NOFAS also seeks to raise public awareness of FASD, the leading cause of mental retardation and birth defects, through education, intervention and advocacy.
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