A decade ago, sociologist and law professor Laura Gomez studied the movement to prosecute and punish pregnant women and mothers of new born babies, where evidence emerged (usually from the medical system) that the mother and or baby had metabolites of illegal drugs in their bodies. Gomez's fascinating book,Misconceiving Mothers, traces the ways that this new frontier in the war on crime was largely resisted through the counter pressure of the medical profession and feminism.
Today's NYTimes carries news that a new wave of such prosecutions has begun. Read Adam Nossiter's reporting on prosecutions in Alabama).
Its a reminder of how tenacious the governing through crime mentality remains in America notwithstanding the crime decline of the 1990s and the emergence of new threats to security from climate change and infrastructure decline in America.
Hands up to Laura Gomez. Women should suffer like that of their unborn innocent child that they have introduced to drugs before they have seen the light of day.
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