A law criminalizing women for their pregnancy outcomes has been passed by Tennessee, Salon reported.
It will be the first state in the United States to criminalize pregnant women for harm caused to their fetuses or newborn babies as a result of addiction to illegal drugs.
Bill Haslam, the Republican governor, was given 10 days to decide whether to sign the proposal, SB 1391, into law, the Guardian reported.
After listening to the advice of doctors, addiction experts and reproductive health groups urging him to veto the punitive and dangerous measure, Haslam decided to go against their input and sign the measure.
Haslam managed to ignore the recommendations of nearly every major medical association, including the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, before taking the decision to pass the bill.
Women will now be held criminally accountable for illegal drug use during pregnancy, with punishments of up to 15 years in prison.
In 2011, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found that "drug enforcement policies that deter women from seeking prenatal care are contrary to the welfare of the mother and fetus. Incarceration and the threat of incarceration have proved to be ineffective in reducing the incidence of alcohol or drug abuse".
Haslam is being persuaded by women's rights groups to veto the bill, arguing that not only would what they call the "pregnancy criminalization law" endanger mothers and babies, but it would also make Tennessee an extreme outlier in the U.S., with resulting economic consequences.
Farah Diaz-Tello, staff attorney with the women's rights group National Advocates for Pregnant Women, said the bill had potentially severe ramifications, according to the Guardian.
"It would create the idea that women are accountable to the state for the outcome of their pregnancies - and no-one can guarantee such outcomes," she said.
A lack of access to health care and treatment facilities will make it virtually impossible for poor women, who are disproportionately African American, to seek help, opponents of the bill said.
Only two of the state's 177 addiction treatment facilities that provide on-site prenatal care allow older children to stay with their mothers while they are undergoing treatment. Addiction care specifically oriented toward pregnant women is only offered in 19 facilities, Salon reported.
Tennessee has also refused the Medicaid expansion, leaving many women without reliable access to basic medical or prenatal care, much less drug treatment.
