Congress passed a law last year to give more money to states to improve the treatment of drug-addicted pregnant women.
West Virginia already passed legislation to do just that.
The state law, passed last year, gives pregnant women priority under Medicaid to receive substance abuse treatment. West Virginia is the latest state to try to deal with the decades-old issue of how to deal with pregnant women who are substance abusers, as one-third of states say that substance abuse during pregnancy is considered child abuse.
The goal of the bill is to cut the number of babies born with opioid withdrawal, which can lead to lengthy and costly hospital stays and affect the child’s health.
Drug withdrawal syndrome has experienced dramatic increases in the U.S., with a baby suffering from withdrawal born every 25 minutes, federal data shows.
In 2012, an estimated 21,732 babies were born with opioid withdrawal, a five-fold increase since 2000, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The increase is parallel to a major surge in opioid use in the U.S.
From 2000 to 2015, more than half a million people died from drug overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths from prescription opioids such as painkillers like Oxycontin have more than quadrupled since 1999.
States have grappled with how to deal with pregnant women who are drug addicted for years.
In addition to West Virginia, 12 states give pregnant women priority access to general programs for drug treatment. Another four states protect pregnant women from discrimination in publicly funded programs, according to the abortion rights advocacy group Guttmacher Institute.
Other states have taken different approaches to deterring substance abuse among pregnant women, focusing specifically on criminal charges. Eighteen states consider substance abuse during pregnancy to be grounds for child abuse. Alabama’s Supreme Court has upheld convictions ruling that a woman’s substance abuse during pregnancy is criminal child abuse.
A few years ago, Tennessee became the only state to specifically criminalize drug use during pregnancy, Guttmacher said.
“A number of states require healthcare professionals to report or test for prenatal drug exposure, which can be used as evidence in child-welfare proceedings,” the institute said.
Four states — Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa and Kentucky — require testing of the mother if a baby is born with drug-related complications.
West Virginia may not be the last state to adopt new measures for reforming Medicaid and handling drug addicts who are pregnant. The federal government wants states to take more action on preventing drug-addicted babies.
In July, President Obama signed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which aims to create a comprehensive approach to fighting opioid abuse.
It expanded prevention and educational efforts to prevent drug abuse and promote treatment and recovery. The law also expands access to the opioid overdose naloxone for first responders and strengthens state prescription drug monitoring programs.
The law also touches on treatment for pregnant and postpartum women, but only through the authorization of grants to expand state services for them and women with dependent children suffering from drug abuse.
The 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law last month, also included $1 billion in grants to states to fight opioid abuse. The law was created to expand approval for new drugs and devices and provide money for medical research.
Democracy Labs is a weekly feature covering state-level policy experiments that could filter up to Washington. Send suggestions to [email protected]
