Alabama is prosecuting a mom for taking prescribed medication while pregnant

[Soph0571]

A 36-year-old Alabama woman is facing felony charges for filling a doctor’s prescription. Kim Blalock, a mother of six, suffers from severe back pain caused by degeneration of her spinal discs. “There are days that I can’t get up,” Blalock has said. Her condition worsened over the years following surgeries and car accidents. An orthopedist prescribed hydrocodone, an opiate pain killer, and she started using it occasionally when the pain became too much to handle. She stopped taking her prescription during her most recent pregnancy, but as her bump grew, the weight added pressure on her back, and the pain worsened. Midway through her third trimester, she couldn’t take it any more, and refilled her prescription. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy soon after, this past September. Out of caution, she told her doctor about medications she had taken during pregnancy – including the hydrocodone. That’s where the trouble started. After her son tested positive for hydrocodone, an investigation was launched. The state child services agency found no wrongdoing, but the local police and district attorney pressed on. Two months after she gave birth, seven armed officers raided her house, terrifying her children.
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The case raises troubling questions. Since Blalock is being charged with a felony for not disclosing her pregnancy, does that mean that pregnant people in Alabama have an obligation to share such sensitive information – even when they haven’t been asked? Since prosecutors claim that it was illegal for Blalock to take her meds while pregnant, but was not illegal for her to take them when she wasn’t pregnant, does that suggest that pregnancy negates a patient’s right to medical treatment? Are some conditions worth treating in patients who aren’t pregnant, but somehow not worth treating in patients who are?
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For many women, this will be the takeaway: don’t trust the doctor. When laws incentivize women to be dishonest with their medical providers, or forgo medical care entirely while pregnant, it’s not clear how those laws can be said to ensure the safety of a fetus. If anything, they seem to be discouraging the practices that lead to good pregnancy outcomes.

[link:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/27/alabama-prosecuting-woman-medication-pregnant|]
Emphasis mine

Heh. It is never about the wellbeing of the foetus, it is always about controlling women's behaviour.
Just another way to punish grown women making grown up choices. Patriarchy always sucks, but the far right white supremacist bible belt patriarchy sucks the worst of all.

[Walleye]

1. I have no words

[Rorey]

2. I have some mixed feelings on this

While I don't think the actions taken against her so far should have happened, I can't help but wonder about the mindset of someone to decide to become pregnant when she already had "severe back pain because of the degeneration of spinal discs". It doesn't sound like this pain was new to her.



To be clear, I don't think she should be prosecuted. I also don't think she should have taken a powerful pain killer during her pregnancy without consulting her obstetrician. Perhaps the obstetrician would have referred her to pain management that didn't involve a powerful drug with the potential for harm to the fetus. I think she took a huge risk.

But no, I don't think she should be prosecuted.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. "I can't help but wonder about the mindset..."

She wanted to have another kid. What is there to wonder about?

It doesn't sound like this pain was new to her.

It wasn't. She's been living with chronic pain for years and has found a way to manage it in a way that helps her try to live the life she wants.

[Rorey]

13. I think I'm entitled to my opinion

You're entitled to yours.

I also think that a responsible person should divulge what medications they're taking to their doctor. She started taking the opioid again during her third trimester, at which time she would presumably be seeing her obstetrician often. There may have been other options. The obstetrician may have even okayed it. Doctors are presumably there to help us, so it's prudent to divulge things.

I'll just reiterate, I do NOT think she should be prosecuted.

[LeftInTX]

10. I researched her case a bit

She is being charged with prescription fraud because she didn't tell her orthopedist she was pregnant...(Hmmm...laws require you to see a doctor every 6th months if you are prescribed opioids.) So was there a gap..did she use an old Rx?.

When her newborn tested positive for opiates at birth, the state Department of Human Services launched an investigation, but withdrew after Blalock presented a legal prescription.

Anyway, it seems like she did not abuse the prescription:

The newborn suffered none of the expected withdrawals, and was released with a clean bill of health. The law is intended to prosecute pregnant women who abuse dangerous substances without regard for the welfare of their unborn, causing the infant to suffer uncomfortable symptoms of withdrawal upon their birth.https://dothaneagle.com/opinion/editorial/overreach/article_c464e8a6-d377-11eb-9585-6b21d17b457a.html

Additionally, how many people get a prescription without telling a doctor every single condition that they have....
Should we charge people for lying about Covid?

Some doctors would have continued to prescribe the codeine, however maternal health recommendations have come and gone over the years....Don't know what the current recommendations are for opioids...But obviously the dosage was not harmful to her infant. Years ago, I worked newborn at the county...methadone is the worst of all the opioids when it comes to withdrawal symptoms.

If this goes to a jury trial, and I hope it does, she will be acquitted. Most can "walk in her shoes".

[Peregrine Took]

19. I agree.

[Liberty Belle]

20. How do you know she wanted to get pregnant? Maybe her birth control failed.

[Rorey]

23. I don't think I said anything about knowing if she wanted to get pregnant

That said, some forms of birth control are pretty much fool-proof. My tubal ligation was one of the best decisions I ever made.

But, hey, she can keep having all of the babies she wants. It's not my place. I just stated my OPINION that it is important to tell your doctor if you're taking opioids when you're pregnant, and that other methods of pain relief might be an option.

[LiberalFighter]

25. Your previous post says otherwise...

From your post above.

I can't help but wonder about the mindset of someone to decide to become pregnant

[Rorey]

27. Have a nice day. Nt

[jaxexpat]

26. Or maybe the husband or whoever couldn't be troubled to use .......

a freakin' condom or too macho insecure to get a vasectomy. It serves logic that in a patriarchal leaning society, men could quite possibly feel within their rights to control all aspects of marital sex. In a chattel state people tend to give up their right to 'self' without so much as a whimper.

It's difficult to imagine a woman with any self-esteem and having FREE WILL actually CHOOSING to bear a 5th or 6th child, especially since it's a scientifically proven fact that on any given multiple choice test, NO sane woman who has experienced child birth and rearing has ever checked, "over 5" as the answer to the question, "how many kids do you want?"

Enter spouse abuse and the scenario changes because sanity has left the scene.

[Rorey]

29. You've made some good points

I don't know if I can outright say that a woman is actually insane for wanting so many kids. For me it would have been pretty crazy to continue to have more children. I can definitely say that I did not enjoy being pregnant. I always marveled at those women who seemed to almost glow.

And for anyone who decides to jump to more conclusions, I DO LOVE MY KIDS.

[Warpy]

33. It was not a huge risk and the fetus was not in danger

This is just drug war/war against women hysteria.

The woman disclosed to her doctor that she had taken the medication. The drugs had most likely cleared by the time the baby was born.

This woman was not an addict. She was taking a prescription drug according to directions. Yes, she should have called her OB/Gyn's office to inform them since we're in the middle of a wave of antiidrug hysteria right now. All medications should be cleared with the OB/GYN, a badly timed aspirin can be dangerous. An opiate was likely not.

I don't know who decided to charge her but it is completely inappropriate. Women have a right to their own health care, whether or not they have a fetus on board. The asshole who charged this woman is saying that is not the case, that a fetus takes precedence over a living, breathing person. This is dead wrong.

The charges should be dropped and this should never have gone farther than a stern lecture from the OB/Gyn about being informed of any medication taken during pregnancy. Charges are overreach of the worst kind.

And no, the pain was not new but she stated it had become incapacitating in late pregnancy. She had other children to care for. She needed pain control. Yes, she should have called the doc, but that's all.

[Bettie]

3. Just another step in the GOP's war on women

in their view women aren't actually "people" in the sense that white men are.

And when pregnant, well, women aren't even kind-of people, we're just incubators.

[katmondoo]

4. The war on women never ends, I am 91 and the50's, 60's were the worse for me.

Men were in control of your life, it was a fight at all times to have some control over your life as a woman. Some I won ,some I failed at.

[Soph0571]

6. Generation X look at women from your generation with awe

The strength of living and fighting through your younger years must have been exhausting!

[niyad]

12. I am the next generation after you, and salute you. We of my generation stood on your

and your sisters' shoulders as we continue to battle for our rights as full human beings. We do not give up.

[momta]

17. I want to echo Soph and niyad.

Your generation fought like hell so that we could have the lives we want and deserve. Thank you.

[Ferrets are Cool]

7. This story is revolting

[mgardener]

8. She should have been honest with her Dr.

I attend a pain management clinic.
I have to fill out a form every time I have appt.
Among the questions
Are your pregnant?
Are you nursing?

[niyad]

11. Do you think she should be prosecuted?

[Rorey]

18. I agree

I have a daughter with degenerating discs, along with other health issues. She is in constant pain. She's also an alcoholic (hasn't had a drink in close to two years), and she refuses to take opioids because of that.

Because of her health issues, she sees multiple doctors. She tells them everything, no matter how uncomfortable it is sometimes to divulge information. In order to get the best care, that's what's necessary.

[AllyCat]

24. Maybe she was honest. Women take opiates during

pregnancy. Legally prescribed opiates. It’s not ideal but not an absolute contraindication either. Women get pregnant and even PLAN it while taking all kinds of dangerous medications and having major health problems we used to say “you shouldn’t get pregnant”. We don’t stop these women anymore.

[niyad]

9. and the WAR ON WOMEN. continues apace. Would you consider cross-posting this in

Women's Rights And Issues? Thanks in advance.

There is so much wrong with this story that one is simply inclined to scream in frustration.

[Soph0571]

14. On my way

[Wounded Bear]

15. This is what happens when legislators think they can legislate medical decisions...

It sets people up for shit like this. While I understand the desire to protect from strong drugs, this sounds like the kind of entrapment that has been used to incarcerate so many millions of people under the ridiculous "War" on Drugs.

[momta]

16. This is infuriating!

It is so obvious that nothing about this case has anything to do with the health of the fetus or baby. It's about sending a message to women:

"You aren't allowed to control your own body. It is ours. Do as we say or go to jail."

And women who go along with this shit are complicit in turning women into handmaidens. (I'm looking at you, Amy. )

[Jon King]

21. She did put her baby at risk, but prosecution is over the top....

Every website, March of Dimes, CDC, Web MD, most sites that discuss pregnancy clearly state the extreme risks to a fetus and new born from using opioids at any time during pregnancy, but especially the third trimester.

The babies are born suffering from withdrawal symptoms, and in many cases suffer greatly.

So this women did indeed make an awful decision that did indeed put her baby at risk.

The prosecution is heavy handed and wrong....but lets also accept that she did something wrong that did affect another person.

[Rorey]

28. I agree

It's just such a complicated issue. I completely agree with a woman's right to choose, but the fact is that once a woman does choose to carry a pregnancy to term, she's also responsible for the health of the fetus.

Fortunately in this case, the baby is fine. That's not always the case.

[cannabis_flower]

30. It also depends.

Apparently the baby wasn’t born with withdrawal symptoms. Perhaps she didn’t take them enough to create withdrawal symptoms herself and only took them here and there when the pain was too bad to bear. Not everyone that is prescribed opiates becomes an addict even when taken regularly.

Consider the case of Larry Flynt, he was shot and for many years took opiates for the pain until a new surgical procedure stopped the pain and he was able to quit opiates with no problem. His wife, who had become addicted by taking his medicine was not so lucky and became an addict. When Larry quit being prescribed opiates, she turned to heroin and contracted AIDS and died.

[LizBeth]

32. She did not put her baby at risk since it had no withdrawal. She may well know she was just taking

here and there to manage extreme pain knowing she was not taking enough to cause harm or cause addiction to baby.

You can project what some may do, but obviously she did not do what you claim so you cannot force ownership on her for your reasoning.

[Act_of_Reparation]

35. That's not what "risk" means.

You can't judge whether something was at risk based on the outcome. Risk is an assessment of the probabilities of various outcomes, determined before a course of action is taken.

The baby was not born with withdrawal, but it could have been. The risk was there. The outcome just happened to be favorable.

I think we all agree prosecution in this case is a bit much, but I think people do have legitimate concerns here. Women should absolutely have the right to terminate a pregnancy for whatever reason, at whatever time. But does a woman intending to carry a child to term have the absolute right to knowingly endanger that child's development?

[LizBeth]

36. She KNEW the amount taken probable outcome no addiction or issue. No risk. 4 oz wine here and there.

Someone insists she put baby at risk. No, because we KNOW 4 oz of wine here and there is NO risk.

Other people may not like it. Others may be outraged. Others may judge and point the finger saying RISK! But still, no risk.

[kcr]

37. Wrong edit oops meant for another poster

[Jilly_in_VA]

22. Goddam gynoticians!

I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if she is a woman of color. (If not, she's probably a white woman on Medicaid.)

[cannabis_flower]

31. I wondered that too

So I went to find out. She’s not but she still could be on Medicaid. The article has a picture where the woman appears to be white but it doesn’t say if she’s on Medicaid

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.al.com/news/2021/06/alabama-mom-faces-jail-for-filling-doctors-prescription-while-pregnant.html%3foutputType=amp

[Jilly_in_VA]

34. She looks

like she could be mixed, but it doesn't matter. She's almost certainly a woman without means. And I suspect six kids means lack of access to reliable birth control too, but that's just a guess on my part.

[DBoon]

38. what about chemo?

Is a woman with aggressive cancer supposed to forgo chemo and risk her own life?

[ck4829]

39. "about controlling women's behaviour. " Yep.