File photo of crystal meth and a 'one-hitter' (© Getty Images)

Alabama court extends child endangerment drug laws to the unborn

1/12/2013

Pretty much everyone agrees that protecting children is a good thing. But what about ones who have yet to be born? Alabama’s high court decided Friday that they should receive the same legal treatment as any other child. The state Supreme Court ruled that Alabama’s chemical endangerment of a child law would now include protection for unborn children. The decision upheld convictions in a pair of cases in which the mothers’ drug use during pregnancy severely endangered or harmed their children; one child was born testing positive for cocaine, and the other died shortly after being born prematurely and died shortly thereafter due to "acute methamphetamine intoxication." Both women received prison sentences. [Source]

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