Background

Back in April, the Tennessee legislature passed one of the most far-reaching bills aimed at criminalizing pregnancyprotecting the health and safety of newborns and mothers. The governor subsequently signed it. This bill was bipartisan, in that every Democratic state senator voted in favor. Many lawmakers have stated that when voting in favor, they “believed” women would only be charged with a misdemeanor and referred to drug court for treatment (as if that makes it better, but whatever).

Pro-choice groups knew better:

“The law itself, even though it permits women to be charged with misdemeanor assault, in no way limits the prosecution to misdemeanor assault, nor does it limit the prosecution to women who are illegally taking narcotics,” Diaz-Tello said.

In other words, any woman who gives birth to a baby with health problems, or who loses a pregnancy at any stage, could be subject to criminal investigation, “because criminal investigation is the only way to rule out an unlawful act,” Diaz-Tello said.

Many anti-drugwar groups were also opposed to the bill, as it criminalizes women’s life choices if they do drugs:

In his signing statement, Haslam said he signed the bill after “extensive conversations with experts including substance abuse, mental health, health and law enforcement officials” and will “be monitoring the impact of the law through regular updates with the court system and health professionals.”

The bill foresees prison sentences of up to 15 years for women who used drugs and whose babies were stillborn or born addicted or otherwise harmed.

The Present

Not a harmful bill. The governor said so; he consulted ProfessionalsTM. These women and their children will get the help they need. They wouldn’t lie…would they?

Mallory Loyola, 26, of Madisonville gave birth to a baby girl on Sunday, July 6th. Two days later, Loyola was arrested and charged with simple assault.

Assault? Did she attack someone after giving birth?

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said Loyola and her young daughter both tested positive for amphetamine at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Deputies say Loyola admitted to smoking meth three to four days before giving birth to her child.

State officials say to their knowledge Loyola is the first in the state to be charged under a new Tennessee law that took effect on July 1st. The new law states “a woman may be prosecuted for assault for the illegal use of a narcotic drug while pregnant, if her child is born addicted to or harmed by the narcotic drug”.

So there you have it, folks. Charged with assault for doing drugs while pregnant; IOW: criminalizing pregnancy.

She is believed to be the first charged under the law. What happens when we start seeing miscarriages in the state of Tennessee? Better get the police tape. We’re looking at (potential) crime scenes.

Tennessee isn’t alone. While the woman wasn’t pregnant, South Carolina sentenced a woman to twenty years for breastfeeding while on prescription narcotics. Florida is trying to make it a separate crime to kill or injure a fetus in crimes committed against a pregnant woman.

This is our new reality.

Update

ThinkProgress has their own story about it with more links inside.

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