Prosecutors in Utah are frustrated because they see few options for helping pregnant women who are using drugs, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Aug. 18.Lana Taylor, a deputy in the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office, cites a typical case of a 26-year-old woman named Shirlene. In 2001, she gave birth to a heroin-addicted boy. Because she was caught up in prostitution to pay for her drug addiction, Shirlene gave up her parental rights. Two years later, she gave birth to another boy who was exposed to drugs, but not addicted. A week later, Shirlene died after slipping into a coma during delivery.
"The system has failed this woman," said Taylor. "There is a stack of cases just like this one."
Police typically discover pregnant drug users while investigating or arresting their boyfriends or husbands for more serious offenses. "They're not dealers," said Patrick Fleming, director of Salt Lake County's Division of Substance Abuse. "They're collateral damage."
With jails reluctant to hold pregnant women and a misdemeanor charge of possession by consumption tying up too many resources, police routinely let pregnant women go with only referrals to treatment programs.
"We don't know what to do," Taylor said. "What do we do?"
One option discussed at a recent Utah Substance Abuse and Anti-Violence Coordinating Council summit is for the state's criminal-justice system to require treatment for pregnant women. But Paul Boyden, executive director of the Statewide Association of Prosecutors, said, "We want two things that are diametrically opposites. We want courts to have the ability to order them to go to treatment. But we don't want to scare them away."
"I do not want to do anything to chase a woman underground and not get even the most basic prenatal care," added Fleming.
Lucianno Colonna, executive director of the Harm Reduction Project, said the addiction community should get involved as well. "Police need more services from the substance-abuse community," he said. "They need quicker and faster access."
Although treatment beds are available in residential treatment centers, Susan Burke, the director of the Utah Substance Abuse and Anti-Violence Coordinating Council, said the centers aren't linked to police departments who find the women who need the help.
"The problem isn't a treatment slot," Burke said. "The real key is how do we get them there."
Fleming is advocating for a program that connects a case manager from an addiction treatment center to the Salt Lake Police Department. He added that incentives such as free diapers and formula or assistance with housing and vocational training could be used to encourage pregnant women into treatment.
At the same time, prosecutors are urging police to pursue cases of possession by consumption. The charge would require more work for police, such as arranging for a blood test. But Burke said the extra time would ensure that mothers obtain treatment and stop using drugs so that they can have healthy babies.
"The problem isn't going to be solved by passing a new law," Burke said. "This problem is going to be solved by improving the system to respond to them."
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