Informing Consent: Medical Malpractice and the Criminalization of Pregnancy.

Publisher: Michigan Law Review Association Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7703728 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0026-2234 (Print) Linking ISSN: 00262234 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Mich Law Rev

Publication: Ann Arbor Mi : Michigan Law Review Association
Original Publication: Worcester, Mass. [s.n.]

Pregnancy*/drug effects ; Pregnant Women* ; Substance-Related Disorders* ; Women's Rights*; Child Protective Services/*legislation & jurisprudence ; Crime/*legislation & jurisprudence ; Informed Consent/*legislation & jurisprudence ; Malpractice/*legislation & jurisprudence; Female ; Fetus ; Humans ; Illicit Drugs/adverse effects ; Liability, Legal ; Personal Autonomy ; Physician-Patient Relations ; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects ; United States

Since the early 1990s, jurisdictions around the country have been using civil child abuse laws to penalize women for using illicit drugs during their pregnancies. Using civil child abuse laws in this way infringes on pregnant women's civil rights and deters them from seeking prenatal care. Child Protective Services agencies are key players in this system. Women often become entangled with the Child Protective Services system through their health care providers. Providers will drug test pregnant women without first alerting them to the potential negative consequences stemming from a positive drug test. Doing so is a breach of these providers' duties to obtain informed consent from their patients before administering medical tests. Malpractice liability can deter providers from forcing women into the Child Protective Services system and forestall the use of civil child protective laws to criminalize pregnancy.

0 (Illicit Drugs)

Date Created: 20180713 Date Completed: 20180713 Latest Revision: 20191210

20231215

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