To the editor:
The Star editorial of Sunday 12/17, on “help [for] drug-addicted babies,” did a good job of summarizing current opiate problems but was badly misguided about one of the solutions. Tennessee’s 2014 law that criminalized delivering a baby with “neonatal abstinence syndrome” was allowed to sunset after two years because its consequences were terrible. There was a spike in the number of women appearing for labor and delivery without prenatal care, because addicted women avoided going to providers who might call the law on them. There were even pregnant addicts who delivered at home with no medical assistance at all. None of that was helpful for babies! The law did have a way out for pregnant addicts, because they could avoid being charged if they got help and went into rehab. But rehab slots were not available! Taking care of a pregnant addict is medically tricky, and most institutions were not equipped or would not take the risk. Without options, the women just went into hiding.
You can’t help a baby before its birth without helping its mother. Bringing back a law to punish the mother (as suggested by Ms. Odom) is not the solution. Here are some suggestions that might actually help.
More research. Not enough is known about the best ways to manage medical care for a pregnant addict or optimize the outcome for her baby. Taper off the drugs? Substitute with Suboxone? Since the opiate crisis is relatively recent, there just isn’t enough knowledge. About the only area of consensus seems to be that cold turkey is dangerous for the unborn baby.
More rehab beds. The need is growing, and the state should be investing in this. And if more facts were available about optimal management, then more institutions should be willing to take on these patients.
Offer long-term contraception (shots, implants, IUDs) to addicted women of childbearing age. Though individuals can’t be forced to use it, making it free and thoroughly educating women about it could encourage use.
It’s clear that addiction and NAS are growing problems, and help for the suffering of newborns is essential. But threatening pregnant addicts with jail is not the answer.

Patricia Buck
Elizabethton