John,
Imagine facing criminal charges for using marijuana while pregnant.
In Oklahoma, a growing number of pregnant people are facing criminal child neglect charges related to pregnancy and drug use. Give us a moment to explain:
According to an investigation by The Frontier and The Marshall Project, women are being charged with child neglect when their newborns test positive for controlled substances. Although current Oklahoma laws specifically apply only to illegal substances, many pregnant women currently are facing felony charges for using doctor-recommended or licensed medical marijuana during their pregnancies.1 Even though their babies are born without health complications, most of these women are facing a possible life sentence in prison.2
John, Black, brown and poor people bear the brunt of pregnancy criminalization. Since the War on Drugs in the 1980s, Black mothers have been targeted and charged with a variety of crimes, including child abuse, distribution of drugs to a minor and assault with a deadly weapon.3
This is history repeating itself, John. In the eyes of some within the legal system, Black women are viewed as less than human, creators of Black criminality and untrustworthy to make decisions regarding their reproductive health. We can’t let fear of criminal prosecution be added to the list of reasons pregnant people avoid getting the care they need.
That’s why we’re calling on district attorneys in Oklahoma to say NO to criminalizing pregnancy.
Tell Oklahoma Prosecutors to prioritize care over incarceration
The policy of criminalizing pregnant people is dangerous and harmful, but sadly, par for the course in Oklahoma. The maternal mortality rate in Oklahoma has increased by nearly 50 percent from 2015 to 2017 compared to the previous three years.4 And in 2020, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that a woman can be charged with child neglect for being pregnant and using drugs— a felony that carries up to a life sentence.5 Courts in Alabama and South Carolina have handed down similar decisions.6 This has led to prosecutors increasingly criminalizing pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes.
In Kay County, Oklahoma, District Attorney Brian Hermanson charged at least 45 women during the past few years for being pregnant and using drugs.7 He charged at least 10 women with felony child neglect in 2020 for being pregnant and using drugs. At least three of the women charged had medical marijuana licenses.8 Oklahoma’s medical marijuana statute clearly states that a person in possession of a medical marijuana license is not subject to arrest or prosecution for marijuana use. It goes even further, stating that there is no assumption of child neglect on the sole basis of a parent using medical marijuana. DA Hermanson’s prosecution of pregnant women who use medical marijuana is unsupported by law.
In Comanche County, Oklahoma, 10 women have been charged with felony child neglect or abuse since 2018 for being pregnant and using drugs.9 Three women were charged with manslaughter. And in 2020, a local news channel in Oklahoma reported that Comanche County DA Kyle Cabelka’s office planned to seek prison terms in every reproductive care case.10
Demand access to reproductive care, not cages
Medical and public health groups recognize the harm when women, trans and non- binary people are prosecuted for their pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. Maternal, fetal and newborn health suffers. Black women, in particular, already are facing a crisis of maternal health.
Our communities can’t afford more harm resulting from such prosecutions. Health care providers and policy experts told The Frontier that fear of criminal prosecution can prevent people from seeking prenatal care or substance use treatment, which may lead to worse health outcomes for pregnant people and their babies.11 Many leading medical groups publicly oppose prosecution for drug use during pregnancy. At least 37 Oklahoma doctors signed a letter denouncing the practice in December 2021.12
tELL YOUR DA: DROP THE CHARGES
Until justice is real,
Criminal Justice and Democracy Team at Color of Change
References:
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