Mothers in Recovery – Documentary Film by Sheila Ganz guest blogger

Posted April 16, 2014 – On Breaking the Cycles blog by Lisa Fredericksen

On Life’s Terms: Mothers in Recovery is a powerful documentary film by Sheila Ganz. In her guest post below and through her blog, OnLifesTerms.org, Sheila introduces readers to this film, which she created to raise awareness about what needs to happen in order to help mothers struggling with addiction keep their children while they pursue treatment for their disease. Thank you Sheila for sharing your work!

Mothers and Children featured in the documentary, On Life's Terms: Mothers in Recovery. Courtesy: Sheila Ganz

Mothers and children featured in the documentary, On Life’s Terms: Mothers in Recovery. Courtesy: Sheila Ganz Continue reading →

Tennessee Passes Measure Criminalizing Pregnancy Outcomes

Tennessee Ignores Experts, Advocates, Passes Measure Harmful to Babies & Families

Contact: Cherisse Scott, CEO, SisterReach; Communications Chair, Healthy & Free TN, 901.310.5488
Contact: Farah Diaz-Tello, Staff Attorney, National Advocates for Pregnant Women, 212.255.9252

April 29, 2014  — With Governor Bill Haslam’s signature of the Pregnancy Criminalization Law, SB 1391, Tennessee has become the first state to ignore the warnings of medical and public health experts to pass a law criminalizing pregnancy outcomes.

A coalition of groups that worked to oppose the bill when it was before the General Assembly rallied support for a veto nationally and internationally. A petition circulated by SisterReach,  Healthy and Free Tennessee, National Advocates for Pregnant Women with RH Reality Check gathered over 11,000 signatures, which were hand-delivered to the Governor’s office last Friday, along with a letter from over 25 organizations dedicated to ensuring all families have access to the health care they need. Experts such as International Doctors for Healthier Drug Policy, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Perinatal Association sent letters to Governor Haslam asking him to protect the health of Tennessee families by vetoing the Pregnancy Criminalization Law. Continue reading →

National First, Alabama Supreme Court Justices Declare Willingness to Punish Women Who Have Abortions as Murderers

New York, NY – On Friday, April 18, 2014, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a 8-1 decision in Ex Parte Hicks upholding the conviction of Sara Hicks, who gave birth to a healthy baby who tested positive for cocaine in 2008. This decision affirmed the Court’s prior ruling in Ex Parte Ankrom, holding that that the plain meaning of the word “child” in the Alabama law unambiguously includes fertilized eggs and that pregnant women may be arrested for using a controlled substance while pregnant. In response, National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) released a statement from founder and executive director Lynn Paltrow:

“It is very unusual for a state supreme court to take a case to address a settled issue of law. It appears that the court accepted the Hicks case for the purpose of more fully articulating a view that pregnant women are proper subjects of Alabama’s criminal justice system and a growing state and national system of mass incarceration. Continue reading →

Mississippi Murder Charge Against Pregnant Teen Dismissed

April 4, 2014                                  contact: National Advocates for Pregnant Women

Laura Huss:  mlh@advocatesforpregnantwomen.org

Yesterday, April 3, 2014, Mississippi Lowndes County Circuit Judge, Jim Kitchens, dismissed the murder charge against Rennie Gibbs. Ms. Gibbs, now 24, was charged with “depraved heart” murder after experiencing a stillbirth at 36 weeks of pregnancy. She was then only 16 years old. Relying on the medical examiner’s report in Ms. Gibbs’ case, the prosecutor claimed — without scientific support — that the stillbirth was caused by her cocaine use.

“We are pleased the murder charge was dismissed,” said Robert McDuff of McDuff & Byrd, Mississippi Defense Counsel. “We will have further discussions in the coming weeks with the District Attorney’s office in an effort to persuade them not to indict Ms. Gibbs for manslaughter or any other crime.” McDuff added, “In our view, neither the law nor the evidence justify prosecuting this young woman, who was a teenager at the time, and we hope this is the end of it. But if further charges are brought, we will return to court in her defense.” Continue reading →

4th Annual Take Root – Reproductive Justice Conference – February 21-22, 2014

4th Annual Take Root – Reproductive Justice Conference

We hope you will join us this year at the 4th Annual Take Root: Red State Perspectives on Reproductive Justice Conference. Registration is now open for this year’s conference that will be held in Norman, OK on February 21-22.

Surprised that such a conference is taking place in Oklahoma? Don’t be.

Potential activists in the “red” areas of the country have largely been written off as too conservative, too ideologically homogenous, and too geographically and culturally isolated to contribute to a nationwide and transnational reproductive justice movement. Rather than encourage and support people who stay and fight, popular media and people on the coasts often suggest that the best alternative for “red” state activists is to move to more progressive parts of the country. Continue reading →

The Anonymous People – screening January 14, 2014 in Larkspur, CA

I’d like to inform you of a feature documentary film titled THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE that will be playing one day only at the Lark Theater in Larkspur, Ca. on Tuesday, January 14 at 7:30pm. There will be a discussion after the film with people in the community including Sheila Ganz, filmmaker of On Life’s Terms: Mothers in Recovery.

Anonymous People deals with over 23 million people living in long-term recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. Deeply entrenched social stigma has kept recovery voices quiet and faces hidden for decades. What we see is mass media depiction of people with addiction that show the dysfunctional side of what is a preventable and treatable health condition. Just like women with breast cancer, or people with HIV/AIDS, a grass roots movement is emerging. Courageous addiction recovery advocates have come out of the shadows and are organizing to end discrimination and move toward recovery based solutions. They are questioning the approach the U.S. has taken with addiction: criminalizing a health condition, marginalizing those impacted, and giving superficial treatment to the chronic illness of addiction. This has resulted in an annual cost of over $350 billion, lost lives, disrupted families and communities. Continue reading →

Women and Drinking: How to Know if You are in Trouble

This is a guest post by Phyllis Klein.

Since women tend to be more vulnerable to the physical consequences of alcoholism, it is important to try to catch a drinking problem early.

What are the warning signs that you might have a problem?

1. Other people express concern about your drinking.

If this is happening to you especially if the concern is coming from a close friend, family member, or partner, it is important to pay attention. Remember that your drinking friends might tell you you have nothing to worry about, but the nature of drinking problems is the strong desire to avoid or deny and group denial can be a powerful force

2. You repeatedly tell yourself that you will limit your drinking and find that you are unsuccessful? Continue reading →

New York Appeals Court Affirms the Rights of Pregnant Women‏

NEW YORK APPEALS COURT AFFIRMS THE RIGHTS OF PREGNANT WOMEN
New York (November 14, 2013): Today, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, rejected a lower Family Court’s finding that a woman’s decision to move from California to New York while pregnant was so “reprehensible” that it could bar New York courts from hearing her child custody case. National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW), the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), and the NYU School of Law Reproductive Justice Clinic, who filed an amicus brief with other women’s rights and advocacy organizations, applaud today’s judgment.In May, the lower Family Court found that petitioner Sara McK’s relocation during her pregnancy — to attend Columbia University on the GI Bill — was tantamount to “appropriation of the child while in utero.” On the basis of that characterization, the New York Family Court referee departed from the statute that controls which state is supposed to hear custody proceedings. The statute makes clear that, typically, custody issues should be resolved in the child’s “home state” — in this case, New York, where the child was born.

“The referee’s decision had far-reaching implications for pregnant women, effectively stripping them of fundamental constitutional rights,” said Sarah Burns, Professor of Clinical Law at NYU Law and Director of the Reproductive Justice Clinic. Burns and her clinical students, joined by NAPW, the NYCLU, and nine other organizations, filed a brief in the case detailing how the referee’s interpretation of the relevant statute placed unconstitutional constraints on a woman’s basic life decisions, such as where she lives, works, and attends school while pregnant. Continue reading →

Coalition of Scientists and Advocates call on FDA to Protect Women and Fetal Health

November 13, 2013, CONTACT: Anais Duran, ADURAN@RABENGROUP.COM

COALITION OF SCIENTISTS AND ADVOCATES CALL ON FDA TO PROTECT WOMEN AND FETAL HEALTH

National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) along with a coalition of researchers and advocates filed a Citizen Petition as well as a Petition for Stay of Action to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calling on the agency to refrain from implementing new labeling changes that are medically inaccurate and dangerous to maternal and fetal health.

On September 10, 2013, the FDA announced labeling changes for extended-release/long-acting (ER/LA) opioid analgesics. Opioid analgesics are a class of drugs used to alleviate moderate to severe pain-from the management of cancer-related pain to labor pain. One of the label changes would require a boxed warning-the strongest warning required by the FDA and one that indicates significant risks associated with a drug-stating: “For patients who require opioid therapy while pregnant, be aware that infants may require treatment for neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome [NOWS]. Prolonged use during pregnancy can result in life-threatening neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome.” Continue reading →

Update on Bei Bei Shuai – Good News

After two and a half years, Bei Bei Shuai – an Indiana woman who was charged with feticide and murder for attempting suicide – is finally free: free from a looming murder trial, free from the electronic GPS shackle that has tracked her every move since her release on bail from the Marion County Jail, and free from an unjust and legally unauthorized prosecution. Continue reading →