Tribal Court Drops Prosecution of a Pregnant Woman Charged with “Failing to Obtain Prenatal Care”

I am guess all of us in the Reproductive Justice community could use a bit of good news these days. Leave it to my friends over at the National Advocates for Pregnant Women to deliver. They just reported that they have been working on a case in Washington State. A young Native American woman, Misty Jones, pregnant and addicted to prescription pain killers, had agreed to enter substance abuse treatment. Here at the Center, we support comprehensive, family-based drug treatment as the best policy solution to address the problem of drug addiction among pregnant women.

Unfortunately, Ms. Jones went into labor with a breech birth before she could get to the treatment facility. Deprived of oxygen during delivery, the baby lived ten days before Ms. Jones had to make the agonizing decision to remove life support.  Ms. Jones was charged with reckless endangerment for “failing to obtain prenatal care” while still grieving her loss. With the fantastic work of NAPW and many other allies and advocates familiar with Tribal law and Native American women, these unjust charges were dismissed.  For more information on why prosecuting pregnant women for their acts during pregnancy is horrible public policy, check out our fact sheet.